Articles 4 and 6 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 ('the recast Renewable Energy Directive') have been transposed into Irish law through the European Union (Renewable Energy) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 365 of 2020). The European Commission has been notified of the transposition of the Articles.
My Department is working intensively with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel to finalise regulations transposing the following Articles, which constitute the majority of the Directive which must be transposed into Irish law:
- Articles 7, Annex II and Annex III which provide for the detailed rules for calculating the share of energy from renewable sources;
- Articles 3 and 7 which provide for technical rules regarding the operation of support schemes;
- Article 19 which provides the legal basis for the issuance of guarantees of origin for electricity and gas;
- Articles 21 and 22 which provide the legal basis for renewables self-consumers and renewable energy communities;
- Articles 25- 28 and Annex IX which provide for rules relating to the calculation of the minimum share of energy from renewable transport, which forms a separate sub-target under the Directive;
- Articles 29- 31 which provide for detailed rules for the application and administration of sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions saving criteria to biofuels, bioliquids and biomass fuels.
A further statutory instrument will be required to transpose, inter alia, Article 16 of the Directive, which relates to the permitting and planning of renewable energy installations. Full transposition of this Article is complex and is dependant on a number of factors including the enactment of the Maritime Area Planning Bill, which will put in place a new legal basis for granting consents for offshore renewable energy.