Brussels, 12 March 2024 - The European Parliament reunited in plenary voted in favour of the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The final step before the entry into force is the Council’s formal adoption.
Proposed in 2021 as part of the Fit for 55 package, the EPBD recast is critical to the decarbonisation of the building stock, which accounts for 40% of EU energy demand and 36% of its greenhouse gas emissions.
Solar Heat Europe’s President Guglielmo Cioni welcomes this important vote:
“The recast of the EPBD is an essential piece of the Fit for 55 package. There is no climate neutrality without a faster and just decarbonisation of the building sector. Solar thermal is already present on more than 10 million rooftops in Europe; the solar mandate will act as a catalyst to triple its deployment, making the most of our rooftops to provide renewable, affordable, and secure heat to European households.”
The EPBD clearly defines and refers to solar thermal, as well as the principle of technological neutrality regarding technologies not producing any on-site emissions. Furthermore, the new text includes two provisions that are particularly important for the sector: firstly, article 9a mandates the deployment of any solar energy technology on certain buildings by different deadlines; secondly, article 15 requires that “from 1 January 2025, Member States shall not provide any financial incentives for the installation of stand-alone boilers powered by fossils fuels”.
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