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Green Globe: EU may boost 2030 renewables target by up to 33%

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The European Union's renewable energy directive calls for the EU to get at least 20% of its energy needs from renewables by 2020.
Associated Press

Negotiators from the European Union's legislative bodies are looking to raise the bloc's clean energy goal for 2030, though a more ambitious target could mean compromising on other energy decarbonization objectives.

After the European Parliament voted in January in favor to increase the EU's target for energy coming from renewables from 27% to 35%, members from the European Parliament, Commission and Council are currently in talks to find a compromise on the EU's renewable energy directive. Citing sources, Euractive reported on May 31 that EU legislators have come up with two potential options for changing the energy and climate targets for both the EU as a whole and the individual 28 EU member countries:

* Raise the EU's target for energy coming from renewables to between 30% and 31%, in exchange for meeting Parliament's other demands, such as establishing legally binding subtargets for renewables in the heating and cooling sector.

* Raise the EU's renewables target to between 32% and 33%, in exchange for which Parliament members would have to concede on other demands mentioned in the first option.

A spokesperson for the European Commission declined to comment on possible adjustments to the energy targets, as the negotiations are still ongoing.

"When agreeing on the final compromise, we must be bold," said EU climate action and energy commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete in a June 5 statement. "Our ambition level, for energy efficiency or for renewables, should enable us to achieve our commitments under the Paris Agreement. It should reflect the most recent developments for renewables technologies and it should reflect the message that investing in clean energy transition brings benefits for our economy in terms of growth and jobs, for the competitiveness of our industries and for individual consumers."

South Africa announced on June 1 that its energy department will create a new renewable energy tender for an estimated 1,800 MW.

Bidding will begin in November 2018 as part of the country's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Program, according to a statement from the country's energy minister Jeff Radebe. He added that he hopes the bids will lead to more investments in local manufacturing and economic growth across disparate communities.

"There will be specific reference and requirements for women-owned business participation and special opportunities for the youth," Radebe said. "It is also the intention to direct the socio-economic and enterprise development spend of [the program] in a much more coordinated way, which will take into account the different needs of the communities where the projects are and which will allow the impact to be measured."

In April, the country's state utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. signed 27 renewable energy power purchase agreements after a series of delays by the government held up the contracts for nearly two years. The projects include the 140-MW Kangnas Wind Farm and the 110-MW Perdekraal East Wind Farm from Ireland-based developer Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd, which recently secured financing for developing the two farms.

Radebe said the next tender could bring another 40 billion to 50 billion South African rand of investment to the country.

Russia has received project bids from developers totaling 2.2 GW of wind capacity for its latest tender, nearly triple the capacity the country is currently seeking.

According to the Russian Association of Wind Power Industry, the Russian government received 77 bids for a combined 2,213.67 MW of capacity in the first round of the tender. The oil-rich country is currently seeking about 830 MW of wind projects, part of the government's overall push to get 4.5% of its electricity from renewables with 5.5 GW in capacity installed by 2024, according to Recharge.

The Russian Association of Wind Power Industry said in a June 5 news release that the high volume of bids "has already demonstrated a high level of competition among bidders for the construction of wind farms."

Elsewhere

* A Lacour Energy 800-MW wind farm in Australia has received approval from Queensland's state government and will begin construction in 2019, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

* Gulf Cooperative Countries such as United Arab Emirates and Oman could see investments in renewable energy reach $16 billion by 2020, making up nearly 5% of the world's $370 billion in clean energy investments at that point, Forbes Middle East reported.

* China has made significant policy changes that will slow down solar growth in the world's biggest market, giving rise to anxiety in the global solar industry about falling prices going forward.

As of June 6, US$1 was equivalent to 12.73 South African rand.

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