New rules to accelerate permits for renewable energy plants

On 20 June 2024, the Danish Energy Agency issued two executive orders to help facilitate the administrative process for installers of renewable energy plants. Both executive orders came into force on 1 July 2024.

Background

The two executive orders are based on the Renewable Energy Directive (the RE III Directive) and the EU Emergency Regulation, respectively. The two executive orders implement a number of provisions from these directives into Danish law.

Purpose of the executive orders

The executive orders are intended to make it faster and simpler to obtain the necessary permits for renewable energy plants and thus contribute to accelerating the expansion of renewable energy.

The rules have been adopted after balancing the need for the expansion of renewable energy against the need to protect nature and the environment. The changes do not relax Denmark's obligation to comply with the objectives of the nature protection directives.

New deadlines

The Executive Order on point of contact, the renewable energy permit process and areas for the promotion of renewable energy implement the rules in the REIII Directive regarding the deadlines that authorities must meet when granting permits for renewable energy plants. Among other things, shorter deadlines are introduced for permits for various renewable energy plants, including rooftop solar panels and heat pumps. As something new, permits under the Environmental Assessment Act (formerly known as EIA permits) will be covered by the deadlines.

New environmental assessment rules

A number of new rules are introduced for the authorities' assessment of renewable energy projects, especially in relation to the impact a renewable energy project may have on nature and the environment. Prior to the executive orders, an environmental impact assessment was required for repowering projects and grid reinforcement projects. In the future, the authorities will only be required to assess the change or expansion in relation to the original project. In addition, projects involving solar panels on roofs or other artificial structures will be completely exempt from the requirement for an environmental impact assessment.

Facts about the executive orders

The new rules in the Executive Order on contact point and deadlines for the renewable energy permit process and areas for the promotion of renewable energy implement the articles of the REIII Directive on the renewable energy permit process with a deadline for implementation on 1 July 2024 (Art. 15e(5), 16 and 16b-16f) and build on the previous implementation of provisions in the REII Directive. The executive order is a so-called framework executive order that sets out rules for relevant permits for renewable energy plants, such as environmental permits and construction permits. The Executive Order builds on the previous Executive Order on contact point and deadlines for the renewable energy permit process, which implemented the rules on the renewable energy permit process in the previous REII Directive.

The emergency regulation has included a number of provisions on, among other things, permit deadlines that expired on 30 June 2024, after which the rules in the Executive Order on contact point, the renewable energy permit process and areas to promote renewable energy will apply.

In addition, the emergency regulation contains a number of provisions on special areas for renewable energy, which Member States can choose to implement. From 1 July 2024, these provisions will apply in Denmark until they expire on 30 June 2025. Supplementary provisions to the regulation are laid down in the Executive Order laying down supplementary provisions for the application of certain parts of Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577 on a framework for accelerating the deployment of renewable energy and Council Regulation (EU) 2024/223 amending EU Regulation 2022/25771)