Planning for wind and solar farms could be granted within six months under new plans

Wind farms and solar parks could receive planning permission in as little as six months as part of new regulations due to be finalised under Ireland’s presidency of the EU.

A maximum two-year limit is envisaged for “complex projects” but standard renewable energy developments and the cables and grid infrastructure needed to support them will be expected to be permitted in the shorter time frame.

European commissioner for energy Dan Jorgensen said it was hoped negotiations on the changes, set out in the EU Grids Package, would be completed before Christmas.

Minister for Climate Darragh O’Brien has previously said passing the Grids Package is a priority during Ireland’s presidency term.

Jorgensen was briefing journalists at the Cop31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, where the hosts are pushing for agreement outside the formal agenda on a target of rapidly increased electrification worldwide.

Jorgensen said any expansion of electrification would need more renewables and more grid.

“This is potentially the biggest bottleneck that can hurt our transition, so this is why we are doing something about it,” he said.

“Permitting will be much faster. Today easily it can take you five, maybe 10, years to get a permit for a new wind farm or solar installations or new cables.

“That we will slash fundamentally down to, as a general rule, six months-two years for complex projects.

“This is something that unites green NGOs and big companies. All say this needs to go faster.”

He said the package would also result in better planning of energy infrastructure.

“In Europe right now, the way we plan our grids, I compare it to building a jigsaw puzzle without looking at the picture on the box – just putting down the pieces and hopefully at the end we have a nice picture.

“That’s not a rational way of doing things. We need overall central planning.”

Another key element to the package was fairer sharing of costs and benefits, he said.

Jorgensen also said better use needed to be made of existing electricity generation capacity through wider deployment and use of smart meters and time of use tariffs.

“By some estimates we are using maybe less than 20 per cent of the capacity we have now in an average hour,” he said.

“They have been built for the peak. When I go home to see my parents at Christmas I cross and bridge and have to wait. It’s not built for Christmas Eve. If it was, it would have 17 lanes but it only has two.

“But in many ways our energy system is built for Christmas Eve always because we cannot afford to have blackouts.

“We must use what we already have much better.”