environment and climate report
Fit for 55: Fast-tracking public renewable energy projects Fine Gael MEP for Ireland South, Seán Kelly, speaks to eolas about his proposals under the EU’s Fit for 55 initiative to remove obstacles to planning and permitting in order to accelerate the development of public renewable energy projects. “We cannot achieve our Green Deal targets without a massive expansion of renewable energy,” Kelly says. “We have the capability to thrive in climate neutral Europe, but this will take a widespread uptake from all stakeholders, backed by government and society more broadly.” As Kelly emphasises, wind and solar power are both intermittent, meaning that Ireland must plan to replace its fossil fuel-based backup system with battery storage 62
and demand response as well as utilising the energy storage of molecules such as hydrogen that are produced with renewable energy. However, “we also cannot hide from the fact” that there will still be “a role to play for transitional fuels until then”. The speed with which that transition can be conducted is currently constrained, Kelly argues, and the Kerry native states that this must be addressed. “The core goal is to decarbonise the economy and
