Latvia Can Sell Its “Greens” to France!
The Latvian Climate Neutrality Cluster is calling on Latvian officials to engage in a dialogue regarding the sale of renewable energy energy statistics to France in order to secure additional funding for the implementation of sustainable initiatives in Latvia, since Latvia was one of the EU member states that exceeded its self-imposed target in 2020.
France is negotiating with the European Commission to avoid penalties for failing to meet its 2020 renewable energy target. The European Court of Auditors has found that France is the only EU country that continues to violate European regulations. Under the EU Renewable Energy Directive, France committed to meeting 23% of its energy consumption with renewable energy sources by 2020, but data show that it managed to reach only 20.7%. Five other member states—Luxembourg, Slovenia, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Belgium—were in the same situation and used the “flexibility options” provided for in EU legislation to meet their targets. These “flexibilities” include the option to purchase “statistical megawatts” from other EU countries that have exceeded their targets, or to implement joint renewable energy projects. In November, France’s energy minister announced that France is in negotiations with Italy and Sweden to purchase “statistical megawatts” worth approximately 500 million euros.
Full article: https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/france-in-talks-with-eu-commission-to-avoid-renewable-energy-fine/