The call for small-scale projects is open until 31 August. As a reminder, the budgetary envelope being allocated (EUR 100 million) would finance at least 22 projects (in case each project requests the maximum grant amount possible). Potential applicants can assess through a self-check questionnaire if their project fits the objectives of the fund. Under the REPowerEU Plan, the Commission will double the funding for the next Innovation Fund large-scale call to ~ EUR 3 billion.
On 28 June, the International Renewable Energy Agency IRENA hosted a webinar on Sustainable Bioenergy for the Energy Transition. The event consisted of two panels on bioenergy upscaling and sustainability, featuring Bioenergy Europe, the World Bioenergy Association WBA and the European Commission, among other speakers. For more information, please reach out to Irene di Padua.
The Council finalised its general approach on the Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII) and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED). Once the Parliament adopts its position in the Plenary (foreseen to take place after summer), discussions will move forward to the Trialogues where agreement on the final legislative text will be reached. For more information, please reach out to Irene di Padua.
The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) will likely vote on the REDIII proposal on 13 July. The draft shows several improvements, but we are still concerned by the ENVI proposal on primary woody biomass, for which ITRE should take action, considering the overreach of Art.2. To support your bilateral exchanges with policymakers, the Secretariat has prepared a position paper on primary woody biomass. For more information, please reach out to Irene di Padua.
The Secretariat is hosting an ad-hoc meeting on 8 June 10:00-11:30 to go over the REDIII revision and the vote on the ENVI opinion, share our suggestions for the ITRE report, and coordinate our outreach efforts. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.
The European Parliament is set to debate the Land-use, Land-use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation on 7 June and likely to vote it on 9 June. The regulation would set an annual removal target of 310 million tons of CO2 for 2030 to be augmented by an additional 50 million tons of carbon farming and would keep the agricultural and LULUCF sectors separate. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.
The EU ETS final report will be voted in plenary on 7 June. The text deletes the 95% threshold as advocated by Bioenergy Europe. The EED vote instead, is likely to be postponed to July or after the summer holidays. For more information, please contact Ennio Prizzi.
Between 30 May and 5 June, the 2022 edition of the EU Green Week is taking place in Brussels and across the EU. More than 270 partner events, including one from Bioenergy Europe, are organised within the Green Week. A detailed list of all events can be found here.
Following the release of the REPowerEU plan by the European Commission last week, Bioenergy Europe has published a press release stressing that even though bioenergy is acknowledged as the main renewable source in the EU, the plan lacks clear targets and additional measures to enhance the further deployment of our sector. For more information, please contact Irene di Padua.
The European Commission has released a proposal (REDIV) to amend the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), Energy Performance in Buildings Directive (EPBD), and the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) in order to speed up the permitting process for renewable energy projects. To do this, REDIV creates a new definition of a ’renewables go-to area’. Once again, “biomass combustion plants” are explicitly excluded from this definition and its application in Article 16a “Permit-granting process in renewables go-to areas”. For more information, please contact Daniel Reinemann.
