Innovative renewable energy, the recommendations of the European Commission

Brussels has published a set of guidelines to facilitate the adoption of innovative renewable energy sources and innovative forms of distribution by the Twenty-seven.

To meet the EU's targets , all forms of renewable energy deployment will be needed. And since traditional large-scale wind and solar projects already face a number of challenges in terms of land use, connection times and public acceptance, it is time to exploit new technologies. These are what the European Commission calls innovative renewable energies and has recently published a guidance document for Member States.

In reality, the sources are always the same: sun, wind, water. What changes is the way they are used and the possibility of creating new synergies with third-party sectors. Most of the technologies mentioned are the same ones that Italy has included in its FER 2 Decree .

In detail, the document reports:

• Agrivoltaic – Estimated TRL: 3-8.
• Floating Solar – Estimated TRL: 8-9.
• Building integrated photovoltaics (e.g. solar tiles, facades, windows) – Estimated TRL: 9.
• Infrastructure-integrated photovoltaics (e.g. road noise barriers, panels along railways) – Estimated TRL: 6-7.
• Vehicle Integrated Photovoltaics – Estimated TRL: 6-7.
• Mini plug-in solar systems (including balcony PV systems) – Estimated TRL: 9 – fully commercial.
• Technologies that exploit ocean energy . Estimated TRL: TRL 9 for tides, 8 for waves, 5 for ocean thermal, 6 for salinity gradient.
• Floating Offshore Wind – Estimated TRL: 7-8.

“Innovative renewable energy technologies […] have significant potential that is currently not sufficiently exploited”, explains the EU Executive on its website, underlining how promoting these applications can also strengthen the competitiveness of the EU “clean-tech” industry.

It is unfortunate that these innovative forms of RES use are often overlooked in authorisation processes and national legislation. This problem is found in various regulatory areas governing the deployment of renewables, in particular in building codes and regulations, energy law and environmental protection regulations . Of course, several Member States have already addressed the problem by introducing ad hoc references in the relevant regulations, but this is not enough.

Where to start? With definitions. The European Commission suggests that specifically defining an innovative form of use or an innovative renewable technology can be an effective way to remove obstacles to its diffusion. On this basis, a specific case can then be indicated in the application of a given regulation.

In this context, sectoral regulations are particularly important to address barriers to different forms of use and technologies. Brussels highlighted that land use regulations often hinder the uptake of agri-solar, especially when they make dual use of land very difficult. On the contrary, water and mining regulations should take into account the potential of floating solar plants. Construction product certification, also at EU level, remains a barrier for building-integrated photovoltaic systems.

Integrating solar into existing structures or industrial sites adjacent to infrastructure can also be a challenge. The adaptability of PV modules to high infrastructure standards is often untested, making it challenging to develop practices that meet these requirements.

“To support their deployment, EU countries should develop clear regulatory frameworks . This will help ensure legal certainty and facilitate their uptake. EU countries should develop a financial framework to support renewable energy, tailored to the specific needs of these technologies and forms of deployment. If implemented, this will reduce the gap between the costs of these new types of renewable energy and those of conventional forms of deployment , promoting their development. EU countries should also encourage continued research and innovation to explore their potential benefits and clarify their environmental impact.”

Read the EU Communication on Innovative Renewable Energy here .