One of the barriers to renewable energy development is bureaucracy. Dealing with the formalities related to RES investments simply takes a lot of strength, time and energy. The remedy for these ills is to be the designation of renewable energy development zones. This necessity results from the RED III directive. What are such zones supposed to be?
RED III Directive and RES development zones
The RED III Directive stands for the full name of one of the most important pieces of EU legislation for the RES market as a whole, i.e. Directive (EU) 2023/2413 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 amending Directive (EU) 2018/2001, Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and Directive 98/70/EC with regard to the promotion of energy from renewable sources and repealing Directive (EU) 2015/652. In this act, the EU legislator decided primarily to: to increase renewable energy targets; to concretise RES targets for the industrial, transport and construction sectors; to introduce a fast-track approval path and the principle of overriding public interest.
The zones of RES development fall within the last of the RED III directive’s scopes indicated here. The premise is very simple: European Union member states are required to designate special areas where green energy investments can be carried out faster than elsewhere. The assumption is that administrative procedures for RES investments carried out in the zone should be completed within 12 months. This deadline for the construction of offshore wind farms is 24 months.
RES development zones – when will they be created in Poland?
Speeding up procedures related to the construction of clean energy sources will be possible through the correct designation of designated zones. Of course, this cannot be an arbitrary decision or one made without prior in-depth analyses. Areas planned for such a zone must first undergo a strategic environmental impact assessment procedure. Certainly, an RES development zone cannot be delimited in Natura 2000 areas or those through which major bird or marine mammal migration routes run. On the other hand, degraded areas, industrial areas, sewage treatment plants, landfills, car parks, artificial water reservoirs, building roofs or agricultural areas can be designated as RES development zones without major difficulties.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that RES zones in Poland should be designated by the end of 2024, it is still difficult to judge whether meeting this deadline is at all realistic. According to information published by the media, conceptual work on the designation of these zones is still in progress at the Ministry of Climate, so it can be assumed that there is still a very long way to go before they are finalised.