At the request of the European Commission, the OECD developed a diagnostic toolkit that allows policy makers at national and sub-national levels in the EU to identify regulatory barriers for renewable energy deployment. This diagnostic toolkit is tailored to support regulatory reform across a diverse set of energy technologies and market segments relevant to the energy transition.
The analysis draws on the OECD’s longstanding body of work on pro-competitive regulation, good regulatory practices and product market reforms, including the OECD Product Market Regulation indicators, the Indicators of the Economic Burdens of Environmental Policy Design and the OECD Competition Assessment Toolkit. It combines legal and economic review of horizontal and sector-specific laws, regulations and rules – at both national and subnational level – that may unnecessarily restrict entry and deployment of solar and wind generation and pumped hydro storage technologies as well as the emergence of related new business models. The report relies on multiple additional sources, including analytical reports, national plans, comprehensive desk research complemented by extensive consultations with diverse set of stakeholders – including national, regional and local authorities, business representatives, consumer organisations and independent experts – as well as dedicated workshops to present and discuss preliminary findings.
The report comprises seven parts. Part I (Scene Setting and Main Findings) frames Europe’s energy transformation and key conclusions. Part II (Spatial Planning and Permitting) assesses the cross-cutting issue of land-use and approval processes. Part III (PV Solar Energy), Part IV (Wind energy) and Part V (Pumped hydro storage) discuss sector-specific barriers and possible reforms. Part VI (Grids) focuses on another cross-cutting issue, namely the crucial role of grids, while Part VII (Case Studies: Puglia and Algarve) applies the diagnostic tool to regional contexts, highlighting sub national implementation challenges and preliminary policy recommendations.