On December 19, 2022, the EU adopted the EU Emergency Regulation. It is intended to speed up the approval procedures for renewable energy facilities in Germany as well. At the end of January 2023, the Federal Cabinet then decided on a draft of a drafting aid for the implementation of EU Regulation 2022/2577. It then forwarded this to the Bundestag for voting.
PV system construction also to be accelerated by EU emergency regulation
The EU emergency regulation allows member states to significantly accelerate the expansion of renewable energies through country-specific legislation. In addition to accelerated approval procedures for onshore and offshore wind power plants and a faster expansion of power lines, the Federal Cabinet's decision also aims to significantly shorten the approval procedures for photovoltaic systems. In general, the Federal Cabinet's draft stipulates that PV systems on commercial and industrial roofs and on "artificial structures" receive the necessary approval for PV expansion after three months at the latest.
Approval procedures should take a maximum of three months
In addition, they are to Solar parks No prior incompatibility assessment will be required for these artificial structures such as quarries, landfills, or gravel pits. There will also be more ease and fewer hurdles for repowering. This refers to the renewal of existing photovoltaic systems with more efficient solar modules. The same applies to grid reinforcement measures. In both cases, a difference assessment will suffice in the future instead of a complete incompatibility assessment. In some repowering measures, the assessment may even be omitted entirely.