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New Regulations For The Development Of Wind Energy In France:
Simplification Or An Added Burden
Fabrice CassinPartner
New Regulations For The Development Of Wind Energy
In France • In accordance with EU’s climate-energy plan,
renewable energy sources should, by 2020, provide 20% of the power used in France. This goal has been increased to 23% by the French government.
• It is widely agreed that reaching such a goal implies extensive development of wind generator plants in France: the additional wind-generated power that should be available in France in 2020, is estimated at 20,000 MW (x 10 compared to 2009)
New Regulations For The Development Of Wind Energy In France
- The French government initiated the « Grenelle Environment », consisting the key ecological and sustainable development policies for the next five years. This is derived from the EU’s climate and energy plan .
- Two Bills called “Grenelle Environment I and II” are in the process of being passed in the Parliament.
New Regulations For The Development Of Wind Energy In France
This presentation will focus on the upcoming reforms:
1. New planning for wind energy2. New authorization for building a wind farm
These reforms that are supposed to simplify the wind farms development system, does not seem to achieve it.
1. New planning for wind energy • In recent years, the development of wind energy
projects have been tried to be organized by territorial planning. But some plans were never drafted or never executed.
• Only the ZDE regime (wind energy development zone) is efficient because of its incentive aspect : since 14 July 2007, only facilities located within the limits of a ZDE can benefit from the purchasing obligation.
New Regulations For The Development Of Wind Energy In France
New planning for wind energy
• Objective:Reach the goals of the Directive 2001/77 /EC on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources, mainly the review of the existing regulatory frameworks concerning authorisation procedures in order to reduce regulatory and non-regulatory obstacles, to rationalise and speed up administrative procedures and to ensure that the rules are transparent and non-discriminatory. Improve the environment quality.
• Means:The « regional sustainable energy plan » :- defining zones where wind projects will be preferably installed (article 17 Bill of
Grenelle Environment I);- reorganising other local plans such as wind energy development zones (ZDE).
All plans include the consideration and protection of the environmental interest.
New planning for wind energy
1.1. The « sustainable energy regional plan » :
• is an « orientation document » set up by regional authorities
• will allow larger wind farms• will help the reorganization of existing local
plans: all local plans, such as ZDE should be compatible with the regional plan.
The need of a large consensus to the regional plan:
- The Bill provides that the adoption of a regional plan should involve a broad participation : local State administration, local authorities, wind energy companies, green associations, transmission system operators...
- Reform puts emphasis on improving the public access to the project and its environmental impact, notably in order to limit the negative effect on “landscape”.
The French legal notion of « landscape »
The French law protects natural and cultural landscape.
2 meanings for « landscape »:- remarquable sites from an artistical,
historical, scientific or scenic point of view (law of 13/12/1913 on historical monuments, law of 02/05/1930 on sites protection).
- landscape with significant esthetic or ecological interest (law of 08/01/1993 on landscape’s protection, European landscape Convention of Florence of 20/10/2000)
1.2. ZDE’s reform
The Bill of Grenelle Environment provides that the wind energy development zone (ZDE) should be compatible with the regional plan.
- Local authorities (communes and etablissements publics de coopération intercommunale) propose to the préfets for the setting-up of ZDE in their territory. In practice this “initiative” is driven by wind farm developers.
- Strong incentive to have wind farms that operate in the communes territory : local income tax
- Upon the recommendation of local authorities, the préfets decide to create a ZDE on a site considering different criteria : - the wind farm potential, - the grid connection possibilities,- and the protection of landscapes, historical monuments and
remarkable and protected sites".
ZDE’s reform
• The Bill proposes an enlargement of the last criteria of a ZDE :“ the possibility for the upcoming projects to preserve
surroundings, public security, agriculture, nature and environment protection, protected sites and monuments and archaeological elements”
• It refers to previous landscape criteria and adds a criteria regarding mainly the conservation of wild plants and animals and habitats which are included in the EC directive, Natural habitats 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992.
Map of French departments with a ZDE approved or in progress
A non simplification of the planning system
Instead of an in-depth reform in the planning system and providing a central role to the “sustainable energy regional plans”, the Bill of Grenelle Environment simply adds it to the existing plans, at a local or regional level.
The risk of the superposition of plans is to hinder the development of wind energy.
New Regulations For The Development Of Wind Energy In France
2. New authorization for wind farms
• The planned environmental permit• The reform of the public enquiry
2. New authorization for wind farms
2.1. A future environmental permit for wind farms• The French government aims to subject the wind project
installations to environmental permit (Installations classées pour la protection de l’environnement - ICPE) in order to control its operating phase.
• Currently, a wind energy project developer in France should obtain
- operating license delivered by the Ministry of Industry, - building permit delivered by the préfet,- and a grid connection proposal from EDF.
A future environmental permit for wind farms
• After the planned reform, a developer will also have to apply for a special registration of its installation under the environmental law : the environmental permit.
• The environmental permit delivered by the préfet will contain operating rules on security, sound intensity, disassembly, distance from the radars...
• The operating rules could be modified by the préfet during the operating phase, following a change in national regulation or in the circumstances (i.e increasing mortality of birds…)
→ Effect on the productibility of the wind farm.
A future environmental permit for wind farms
• The draft regulation faces a strong opposition from wind energy industry, including FEE and SER.
• Major issues:- Could the power of the préfet to add or modify
technical rules and duties contained in the environmental permit be limited?
- What is the maximum period for a third party to initiate a proceeding against the environmental permit?
New authorization for wind project
2.2. Reform of the public enquiry
• Further to the Aarhus Convention (25 June 1998), the public enquiry procedure, preceding the grant of a building permit or/and the environmental permit, is modified by the Bill on Grenelle Environment II in order to improve public access to information and public participation in decision-making.
Reform of the public enquiry• Every wind farm project will be subject to a public enquiry and to an
environmental impact studies.
• The Bill of Grenelle Environment II provides for an improvement in the publicity of the public enquiry and in the content of the file through the transposition of the article 6.2 d) of the Aarhus Convention: “the public concerned shall be informed, either by public notice or individually as appropriate, early in an environmental decision-making procedure and in an adequate, timely and effective manner”.
• The Bill provides that the decision of the préfet should take into account the impact studies, the position of the administration for environmental protection and the results of the public consultation (i.e. transposition of article 6.8 of the Aarhus Convention: “ensure that in the decision, due account is taken of the outcome of the public participation”)
CONCLUSION
• The reforms provided by the Bills of Grenelle Environment surely does not involve a simplification of the legal framework.
• It is contrary to article 6 of the Directive 2001/77 of 27 September 2001 according to which the State should reduce the regulatory and non-regulatory barriers to increase the electricity production from renewable energy sources.
• It is contrary to article 12 of the proposition of EC Directive providing that administrative procedure should be « proportionate and necessary » and streamlined.
35, boulevard des Capucines75002 ParisTél: (33-1) 53 45 40 00Fax: (33-1) 53 45 40 10 www.cgrlegal.eu
New Regulations For The Development Of Wind Energy In France:
Simplification Or An Added Burden
Fabrice CassinPartner
