FEDARENE welcomes the European Commission’s Grids Package as an important step towards accelerating the deployment of energy infrastructure and enabling the electrification and decarbonisation of Europe’s economy.
The permitting amendments, part of the Package, strongly echo the concerns raised by local and regional energy agencies: permitting complexity, public acceptance challenges and unclear allocation of responsibilities need to be addressed to accelerate the deployment of grid infrastructure across Europe.
In this respect, FEDARENE particularly welcomes the strong emphasis placed on public participation and acceptance as conditions for the effective delivery of grid projects, and the explicit recognition of the role of professional, independent facilitators in supporting the delivery of larger and more complex energy projects.
“Regional and Local Energy Agencies have long been acting as independent, trusted facilitators between project developers, grid operators, public authorities and citizens. By organising structured consultations, facilitating dialogue and supporting transparent decision-making, they help build consensus, anticipate concerns and prevent conflicts and legal disputes that can otherwise delay or derail projects. We welcome the recognition of this role in the Grids Package.”
Raúl García Brink, FEDARENE Vice-President for Grid Capacity and Flexibility
FEDARENE therefore calls on the co-legislators to ensure that this recognition is translated into concrete impact on the ground, including clear mandates, adequate resources and the systematic involvement of independent facilitators in permitting and planning procedures.
As the European network of regional and local energy agencies, FEDARENE stands ready to support the Commission and Member States in operationalising this approach and embedding it into practice across Europe.
