Sustainable Energy Law Notebook

The wave of flowers covering Oslo these days carries a strong message to each person and to the world. Because we will never forget. Because love is stronger than hate. Because democracy helps winning over terrorism and fanatism. Listen HERE and HERE two versions of the song "Mitt lille land" ( Mon petit pays ) written by Ole Paus that now gathers all Norwegians. Hereafter, some of my pictures taken in Oslo as a testimony.

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has announced on 20 July 2011 that the country has finalised the negotiations with the European Commission as regards the determination of the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy in 2020 . They agreed that the target will be at least 67.5 %, which means that it will be an increase by 9.5 % compared to 2005 (58 % renewables at that time). The target in the transport sector has been negotiated at 10 % in 2020 . The Ministry conclude that following that trajectory will entail that more than two thirds of energy consumption in Norway is based on renewables in 2020. The determination of a percentage was a necessary part of the negotiation for the transposition of Directive 2009/28/EC into the EEA Agreement , which is now expected to take place in the near future now. It is also an important as regards the targets under the natioanl green certificates scheme in Norway and the common green certificates mar...

The European Commission approved on 13 July 2011 the national green certificates scheme of Romania under case nr. SA.33134 "Green certificates for promoting electricity from renewable sources." The decision in itself is not yet published, waiting for confidentiality clearing. In the meantime, the press release indicates some key points of the decision of the Commission not to raise objections: - The scheme is part of the national strategy of Romania to reach its mandatory target defined in Directive 2009/28/EC; - The scheme " creates clear incentives for an increased used of renewable energy, while containing safeguards to limit distortions of competition ." - The scheme has been deemed to be in line with the 2008 Community Guidelines on State Aid to Environmental Protection , where the redistribution of compliance fees through an Environmental Fund was probably a key element for assessing the involvement of state aids. The Romanian scheme is characterised in the...

The French Energy Regulator ( Commission de Regulation de l'Energie, CRE ) has finally published today on its website the criteria for attribution of the long awaited call for tenders on offshore wind on the French metropolitan territory . The text of the call was published on 5 July in the Supplement on Public Tenders of the Official Journal of the EU. The deadline for submission is 11 January 2012 . The call will be detailed in a forthcoming post. References : CRE website HERE .

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has announced today that has endorsed a programme aimed to assess the 15 areas previously identified in 2010 (See report Havving - forslag til utredningsområder ) for the construction of offshore windmills along the Norwegian coast. In the words of the Ministry, the assessment aims to increase knowledge as to the best areas for the construction of offshore wind installations , and which areas are the most acceptable from an environmental and economic points of view, due to other activities in the same zones. Based on the result of the assessment, the selected areas will be opened to permitting. The assessment programme should end by mid-2012 . References : Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Press release 65/11 , 05.07.2011.

"NVE har vedtatt nye bestemmelser om avanserte måle- og styringssystem (AMS) i måling og avregningsforskriften . Innen 1. januar 2017 skal strømkunder i Norge ha tatt i bruk AMS ." " AMS gjør at strømkundene får bedre informasjon om kraftforbruket sitt, mer nøyaktig avregning og mulight for automatisk styring av forbruker, og vil kunne bidra til en bedre fordeling av strømforbruket og et mer fleksibelt kraftmarked. " " Nettselskapene har ansvar for registrering og innsamling av alle måleverdier fra strømkundene. De nye bestemmelsene om AMS stiller som krav at kraftleverandører skal gis tilgang til å utveksle informasjon med alle strømkundene gjennom AMS-utstyret som skal installeres. Dette legger forholdene til rette for en rekke nye tjenester ... " " Bestemmelsene om AMS trer i hovedsak i kraft 1. januar 2017 ." References : - NVE websider om AMS ; - Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, press release Nr. 64/11 , 01.07.2011.