The Commission adopted today a decision establishing a template for National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) as required by the recent Renewable Energy Directive 1 . The template will guide Member States in the elaboration of their Renewable Energy Action Plan and detail their strategies for reaching their 2020 renewable energy targets. Each Member State must submit a NREAP to the Commission by 30 June 2010 at the latest.
Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, underlined the importance of National Renewable Energy Action Plans: "With the binding targets for the share of renewable energy in 2020 the EU has taken a major step towards creating certainty for investors in green renewable energy technologies. While National Action Plans will further contribute to a stable investment climate, the template that the Commission adopted today will help Member States produce a credible plan which in turn will help the EU to meet its targets on time."
The Directive sets mandatory national targets for each Member State with the aim of achieving a 20% share of renewable energy in Europe's final energy consumption by 2020. Member States therefore need to design long-term renewable energy measures and policies and develop detailed estimations on the contribution of renewable energy in final energy consumption. NREAPs will ensure this.
Indeed, a NREAP has to reflect Member States' national targets for the share of energy from renewable sources consumed in transport, electricity, heating and cooling in 2020, as well as the chosen trajectory to achieve them. It must detail national policies on biomass resources and on the implementation of biofuel sustainability schemes while taking into account effects of other policy measures related to energy efficiency. A NREAP is further required to specify national policies on enabling measures such as revising administrative procedures, building codes, information and training, energy infrastructure development and access, support schemes and flexibility measures.
The objective of the template adopted today is not only to guarantee the completeness of the NREAPs, but also to ensure their comparability with each other, as well as with future reporting on the implementation of the Directive, both by Member States and by the Commission. 2
The template is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform_en.htm .
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1 :
DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC
2 :
Member States report by 31-12-2011 and every two years thereafter. The Commission shall report, on the basis of the MS report, in 2012 and every two years thereafter.