Renewable heating and cooling associations call on the Council to not turn their back on the businesses of the future

PR – Brussels, 17th of January 2018 – Today, the European Parliament finally approved the revision of key legislation for the energy sector, namely the Governance Regulation, the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), to make them fit for the challenges and commitments of the next decade, up to 2030.

The associations representing the renewable heating and cooling (RES-H&C) industries welcome the efforts of the rapporteurs and political groups that have strived for a better compromise on the initial text proposed in 2016 by the European Commission.

Most notably, the Renewable Energy Directive sets an adequate level of ambition with an annual increase of the RES share in H&C of 2 percentage points in the next decade. Yet, as Member States are not held to a binding target for such a critical sector and retain important flexibility and loopholes, uncertainty for renewables in heating and cooling remains. Provisions for the reporting on the completion of this objective are welcome as a bare minimum to keep Member States accountable. The Parliament’s texts, however, head in the right direction with national governments having to deploy measures to move the decarbonisation of the heating sector forward.

All three directives will be now negotiated in trilogues with the Council and the Commission. During these discussions, Member States and the European Commission will have to act consistently with their position on the Paris objectives and align with the European Parliament’s texts. It is now time to look ahead to the implementation of these measures by national governments.

It is now up to European citizens, consumers, entrepreneurs, workers and voters to carry the torch, making sure that the high ambition for RES-H&C and energy efficiency is effectively delivered in the next decade for each Member State. They will have to watch over national governments so that the tools agreed at EU level are adequately implemented at local level to efficiently decarbonise H&C. Ultimately, it will be European citizens that will be turning these targets into better, safer and warmer homes, more efficient businesses and cleaner industries.

ANNEX

Quotes:

“The first Renewable Energy Directive allowed the RES-electricity sector to boom and become an European success story, the second RED must do the same for the renewable heating and cooling sector in the next decade. Addressing this sector is an unavoidable step if we want to reach full decarbonisation of our economies. It is now up to the Member States to use the new tools provided by the revised legislation to deliver a new success story, for renewable heating in Europe!” says Pedro Dias, Solar Heat Europe Secretary General.

“The Renewable Energy Directive must respect the Parliament’s position for renewable heating and cooling, which allows these industries to grow, create jobs and expand thanks to a robust internal market. The deployment of RES-HC also helps our societies, fighting energy poverty and improving air quality.” says Philippe Dumas, EGEC Secretary General.

“Full decarbonisation of the heating and cooling sector will have an incredibly positive impact on our economies and I hope Member States will put the right measures in place to accelerate this process and maximise its benefits” says Jean-Marc Jossart, AEBIOM Secretary General.

CONTACTS

AEBIOM – the European Biomass Association
Nathalie Hemeleers
hemeleers@aebiom.org

EGEC – European Geothermal Energy Council
Thomas Garabetian
t.garabetian@egec.org

Solar Heat Europe
Stefano Lambertucci
Stefano.lambertucci@solarheateurope.eu