What is the EU's RES booster and what does it mean for the solar sector?

The RES Booster will fast track permitting procedures for renewables, placing new time limits for projects to be approved. Permitting procedures will now be limited to three months for projects located in rooftops, artificial structures, or integrated on buildings. This three month deadline includes grid connection. In some cases, the deadline can be limited to only one month if the project is under 50 kW.

These new time limits will apply to solar projects on artificial structures, for example projects that will be located on carparks, factory roofs or public transport infrastructure. For this reason, some projects may be able to forego environmental impact assessments under the assumption that they are of overriding public interest.

The RES Booster will support the repowering of existing renewables projects. This means changing something about an existing project to improve it’s efficiency or generation capacity. The deadline for repowering an existing project will be six months, including grid connection and, where relevant, environmental impact assessment.