Campaigners have greeted the news saying “an investment boom across the EU will be the result.”

German Greens MEP Sven Giegold (pictured) says the revised EU law will brings several benefits.

These, he says, include:

• Doubling the expansion of renewables – across the EU: The EU target for the share of renewables in total energy consumption will increase from 32% so far in 2030 to 45%. Of this, 42.5% is legally binding. 2.5% are indicative. By the end of 2021, we will have reached a share of renewables of just under 22% across Europe. So the new target means a doubling in 9 years! That is really strong;
• Annually, the law means the installation of 100 GW of wind and solar plants across Europe! Converted, this corresponds to 17 football fields of photovoltaics (PV), 16 onshore wind turbines plus 4 offshore wind turbines every day and
• The approval period for renewables will be permanently shortened. Our successes in reducing bureaucracy for renewables and electricity grids within the framework of a temporary EU crisis regulation will thus be permanently secured under European law – with a high level of nature conservation.