EU breakthrough for European energy infrastructure - Permitting deadline set at under 4 years -
Date
Sections
The EU agreement reached on guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure is a long awaited breakthrough for the EU energy sector. The agreement reached between the European Parliament and the EU Council on Tuesday 20 November 2012 includes:
- "Binding deadlines" for building new energy infrastructure set at three years and six months.
- Agreement to identify "priority corridors" for infrastructure, in particular North Seas offshore grid and electricity highways.
"This agreement is very positive. Developing electricity infrastructure is absolutely vital to developing the internal market, improving energy security and integrating large quantities of wind energy. The more than 140 gigawatt of offshore wind power currently being planned by European utilities, developers and governments by 2030 requires a big step forward in offshore grid development. It is now vital that the European Commission's proposal for 9.1 billion Euros for energy infrastructure is maintained during the negotiations on the 2014 to 2020 EU budget", said Justin Wilkes, Policy Director at the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).
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For more information contact:
Peter Sennekamp, EWEA
+32 2 213 18 33