The European Parliament has approved the Net-Zero Industry Act to enhance net-zero technology production within the European Union. The Act targets Europe to produce 40% of its net-zero technology needs by 2030 and capture 15% of the global market for these technologies.

The Act supports various technologies crucial for the EU’s climate and energy goals, including all renewable technologies, nuclear, industrial decarbonization, grid, energy storage technologies, and biotech. It introduces streamlined permitting procedures, with maximum timelines for project authorization, to accelerate the deployment of these technologies.

A component of the Act is the creation of “Net-Zero Acceleration Valleys.” This will accelerate the permitting process by delegating parts of the evidence collection for environmental assessments to member states, fostering quicker deployment of new technologies.

Public procurement and national auctions for deploying renewable energy sources must incorporate sustainability and resilience criteria, ensuring a greener approach to energy production. The legislation mandates that at least 30% of the volume auctioned annually in each member state, or up to a maximum of 6 GW annually per country, should meet these criteria.

Funding incentives are also part of the package. The Act encourages the National Emission Trading System revenues and strategic project support through the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform, paving the way for a potential European Sovereignty fund.

The Act will now proceed to the European Council for formal adoption to become law. This legislative milestone is aligned with the conclusions from the Conference on the Future of Europe, underscoring the EU’s commitment to a sustainable, resilient, and independent energy framework.

“We welcome the resilience and sustainability criteria in the adopted Net-Zero Industry Act. This gives a green light for the procurement of sustainable European-made solar panels and is a clear direction towards resilient supply. We urge the Member States to start buying as from now and not waiting for the time thresholds in the regulation,” says Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, Policy Director at the European Solar Manufacturing Council.

The Act will support technologies crucial for the EU’s climate and energy goals, including solar power. This is a necessary move after the EU Parliament voted to boost the domestic renewable energy share to 42.5% by 2030 in October.

Europe’s power industry recently called for ramping up investments in aging grid infrastructure by 84% annually until 2050. According to Eurelectric, which represents the interests of the European electricity industry, the grid infrastructure is ill-suited for accommodating decentralized renewables, electric vehicles, and smart grids.