Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Addednational competent authority may design the requirements for the permit-granting

Addedprocess of a certain project, and the public consultation timeline set out in point (4)

Addedof Annex VI, in phases, provided it does not delay the overall development of the

Addedproject and ensures that the permit-granting process is simplified and accelerated.

AddedThe maximum deadlines of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply for each of the phases.

AddedWithin one month of submission of the missing information referred to in the first subparagraph, point (d), the competent authority shall accept for examination the complete application in written or electronic form or on dedicated digital platforms, starting the statutory permit-granting procedure referred to in paragraph 1, point (b).

Added10. The project promoter shall cooperate in good faith with the national competent authorities and with all authorities concerned, in order to provide them with complete and correct information, in particular with regard to the information identified in the screening process.

AddedThe project promoter shall ensure that the application file is complete and adequate, seeking the national competent authority’s opinion it as early as possible in the permit-granting process.

AddedThe project promoter shall cooperate fully with the national competent authority in order to comply with the time limits set in this Regulation. Any delays due to the fault of the project promoter in good faith in this respect, shall not count against the maximum permitting duration.

Added11. Member States shall ensure that any amendments to the national law do not lead to prolonging any permit-granting process started before the entry into force of those amendments. With a view of maintaining an accelerated permit-granting process for projects on the Union list, national competent authorities shall adequately adapt the schedule established in accordance with paragraph 6, point (b), of this Article to ensure, to the extent possible, that the time limits for the permit-granting process set in this Article are not exceeded.

Added12. The time limits set in this Article shall be without prejudice to obligations arising from Union and international law, and without prejudice to administrative appeal procedures and judicial remedies before a court or tribunal.

AddedThe time limits set in this Article for any of the permit-granting procedures shall be without prejudice to any shorter time limits set by Member States.

AddedCross-sectoral infrastructure planning

Added1. By … [one year from the date of entry into force of this Regulation] and at least every two years thereafter, the Commission shall, in cooperation with the stakeholders referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article, develop a Union strategic scenario for the electricity, hydrogen and gas sectors and, where relevant, CO₂ transport and storage, to be used for the establishment of the Union list referred to in Article 3, for the Union-wide ten-year network development plans referred to in: Article 48 of Regulation (EU) 2019/943 and Article 59 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1789, the infrastructure needs identification process referred to in Article 12 of this Regulation, the energy system wide cost-benefit analysis referred to in Article 14 of this Regulation, and the cross-border cost allocation referred to in Article 17 of this Regulation. The Union strategic scenario shall be consistent with the Union’s targets for energy and climate and include a long-term perspective until at least 2050 in accordance with the Union’s climate neutrality objective.

Added1a. The Union strategic scenario establishing the common reference framework for the processes referred to in paragraph 1 shall consist of:

Added(i) an initial scenario, consistent with the Union’s targets for energy and climate and include a long-term perspective until at least 2050 in accordance with the Union’s climate neutrality objective;

Added(ii) an alternative scenario, taking into consideration the actual progress towards delivering Member States’ national and energy climate plans, reflecting different policy and system assumptions; and

Added(iii) mandatory sensitivity analyses assessing the robustness of infrastructure planning under different assumptions.

AddedThe Union strategic scenario shall be complemented by the Comprehensive framework assessment referred to in Article 14a.

Added2. The Union strategic scenario shall:

Added▌

Added(b) take a cross-sectoral approach ensuring consistency between the electricity, hydrogen and gas sectors, and, where relevant, CO₂ transport and storage, optimizing system efficiency including through the efficient use of existing and planned infrastructure and the integration of flexibility resources across sectors;

Added(ba) be developed with due consideration to relevant national planning instruments of the Member States, including national energy and climate plans established pursuant to Articles 3 and 14 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, and take into consideration national network development plans adopted pursuant to Article 51 of Directive 2019/944 and Article 55 of Directive 2024/1788, while ensuring consistency and comparability of assumptions at Union level;

Added(bb) reflect, where relevant, the development and needs of distribution networks by taking into account distribution-level constraints, demand and decentralised generation patterns, and flexibility needs, based on distribution network development plans and relevant data from distribution system operators;

Added(bc) take into account relevant national and regional specificities;

Added(bd) cover the planning horizon up to 2050 and include two successive ten-year planning periods within the overall planning horizon, the first one until 2040 and the next one until 2050;

Added(c) include mandatory sensitivity analyses as appropriate, including, where relevant, analyses reflecting daily, multi-day and seasonal variations in renewable energy generation and demand, energy storage, observed evolution of supply and demand, policies supported by concrete implementation measures and comparison with the initial scenario;

Added(ca) be consistent with the latest available European Resource Adequacy Assessment (ERAA);

Added(cb) be used for the purposes of developing the infrastructure needs report pursuant to Article 12, the cost-benefit analysis pursuant to Article 14 and the cross-border allocation pursuant to Article 17;

Added(cc) include an alternative scenario applying different assumptions regarding policy implementation, technology deployment, energy demand, infrastructure development and system evolution in order to assess the robustness of infrastructure planning and investment decisions;

Added(cd) be developed at a sufficiently granular spatial level to identify cross-border and relevant internal infrastructure needs and system bottlenecks, taking into account Member States, bidding zones, control zones or NUTS1- or NUTS2-equivalent regions, as appropriate.

Added3. The Commission shall lead and coordinate the process for development of the Union strategic scenario, as referred to in parapraph 1. The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO for Electricity), the European Network of Network Operators for Hydrogen (ENNOH), the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSO for Gas), the EU DSO and the Member States shall provide to the Commission and the Agency, upon their request, the data and information necessary for the development of the Union strategic scenario referred to in paragraph 1. That includes, but is not limited to market and network data, such as demand and supply projections, characteristics of power generation, hydrogen production and networks, flexibility sources, imports assumptions, as well as climatic years data, including data on network utilisation, availability of capacity and flexibility resources. Before issuing a request, the Commission or the Agency may consult the ENTSO for Electricity, the ENTSO for Gas and the ENNOH on guidelines and templates used for data collection. The Commission shall set a reasonable time limit within which the data and information is to be provided, taking into account the complexity and urgency of the data and information required. Where an addressee does not provide the information requested within the time limit set by the Commission or supplies incomplete information, the Commission may by decision require the information to be provided. The Commission shall request the Agency to verify the data submitted to the Commission, including by verifying national data with the relevant national regulatory authorities.

Added4. The Commission shall consult the Agency, national regulatory authorities, the ENTSO for Electricity, the ENNOH, the ENTSO for Gas, the European entity for the cooperation of electricity distribution system operators in the European Union (EU DSO Entity), the Member States as well as other relevant stakeholders on the data collected for the purpose of the Union strategic scenario development process, including assumptions and their use in the development of the Union strategic scenario. The consultation shall also cover the consistency of the data provided by the Member States with their national planning instruments.

Added4a. In the consultation process referred to in paragraph 4, the Commission may take into account any alternative scenarios developed by academia, provided that they are documented to a sufficient level. The Commission may publish a consultation report summarising relevant contributions and explanations from them.

Added4b. All input data used in the scenarios as well as all output data shall be published aggregated to the level of Member States, bidding zones, control zones or NUTS1/2-equivalent with an open data licence, conforming with Directive (EU) 2019/1024 on open data and the re-use of public sector information. The data shall be sufficiently documented and versioned to enable any third party to replicate the scenario development. All model source codes and libraries used to develop the scenarios shall be published using an open software licence. A first version of the data and code shall be published at least 6 months before the scenarios are finalised. The input data shall include generation potentials and capacities, storage capacities, cross-border capacities, time series for demand and renewable generation at at least hourly resolution for multiple weather years, technology assumptions (efficiencies, costs), maintenance and outage schedules, sector-coupling assumptions, currency year used, social discount rate and data on non-EU countries included in the analysis.

Added5. The Commission shall submit the draft Union strategic scenario to the TEN-E Group, together with information on how the comments received in the consultation referred to in paragraph 4 have been taken into consideration. The TEN-E Group members shall deliver their comments, if any, within one month of receiving the draft Union strategic scenario.

Added6. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 23 to supplement this Regulation by establishing the Union strategic scenario pursuant to this Article. The Commission shall adopt the Union strategic scenario taking into account the comments from the TEN-E Group.

Added7. Following the publication of the delegated act on the Union strategic scenario the Commission shall publish the underlying input and output data for the Union strategic scenario, subject to restrictions under national law and relevant confidentiality agreements.

Added7a. The ESABCC may, on its own initiative, submit an opinion on the consistency of the draft Union strategic scenario and its underlying assumptions with the Union's energy and climate targets and with the climate-neutrality objective set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/1119. Where available, that opinion shall be made publicly available together with the draft Union strategic scenario. When the Union strategic scenario is adopted, a statement shall be published setting out how that opinion has been taken into account or, where appropriate, the reasons for not following it.

Added▌Article 12 Infrastructure needs identification report

Added1. The ENTSO for Electricity and the ENNOH respectively, shall develop an infrastructure needs identification report to identify infrastructure needs affecting the Union’s objectives related to electricity and hydrogen.

Added2. The infrastructure needs identification reports shall:

Added(a) be based on the Union strategic scenario developed by the Commission in accordance with Article 11 (3) and its sensitivity analyses, which shall be used as the reference framework for the identification of infrastructure needs;

Added(b) comply with the methodology developed by the Agency pursuant to paragraph 11;

Added(c) comply with the principles laid down in Annex VII of this Regulation;

Added(ca) identify the extent to which the identified infrastructure needs are expected to be addressed by projects submitted for inclusion in the Union-wide ten-year network development plan, including any remaining gaps;

Added(cb) take into account the long-term planning horizon, the two ten-year planning periods, the network mapping, the estimated investment cost and the phased implementation milestones, taking into consideration the system stability and security of supply in the Member States;

Added(d) ensure a cross-sectoral approach ensuring consistency between the electricity and hydrogen sectors as well as, where applicable, gas, district heating and CO2 sectors, by taking into account interactions, trade-offs and synergies between those sectors within the infrastructure needs identification, including impacts of different climatic zones, seasonality and local and national circumstances;

Added(da) take account of the capabilities of all available and emerging grid-enhancing technologies;

Added(db) consider forward-looking climate and extreme weather risk scenarios, including the potential of non-wire and digital solutions to prevent system failures.

Added3. The ENTSO for Electricity and the ENNOH, respectively, shall consult relevant stakeholders on the additional data, assumptions modelling approaches beyond the Union strategic scenario’s data and assumptions modelling approaches already consulted by the Commission pursuant to Article 11 and their use for the development of their infrastructure needs identification report. The consultation process shall be transparent, structured, open and timely, and the ENTSO for Electricity, the ENNOH and, where relevant, the ENTSO for Gas shall document how stakeholder input has been taken into account. All assumptions, data sources, modelling approaches, parameters and assessment criteria shall be made publicly available in an appropriate manner.

Added4. Within six months of the publication of the Union strategic scenario and its sensitivity analyses pursuant to Article 11, the ENTSO for Electricity and the ENNOH shall submit their draft infrastructure needs identification reports to the Agency and the TEN-E Group.

AddedThe reports shall evaluate infrastructure needs on the basis of the Union strategic scenario and sensitivities published pursuant to Article 11 and assess how projects submitted for inclusion in the Union wide ten-year network development plan address those needs. The reports shall be based on the most up-to-date information concerning existing infrastructure and projects.

Added5. Within two months of receipt of the draft infrastructure needs identification reports, the Agency shall assess compliance of the draft infrastructure needs identification reports, including with the requirements referred to in Article 12(2). The Agency shall further assess to which extent projects submitted for inclusion in the Union wide ten-year network development plan match the needs identified. Where the Agency identifies deviations or insufficient compliance with the requirements of this Article, it shall be empowered to request amendments to the draft reports, where duly justified. The ENTSO for Electricity and the ENNOH shall amend the draft reports accordingly. Where amendments have been requested by the Agency, the ENTSO for Electricity and the ENNOH shall submit an amended draft report reflecting the requested amendments within a time specified in the Agency’s request. Within three months of receipt of the draft report or amended draft report, the Agency shall approve it or amend it. Where the Agency intends to amend the report, it shall consult the association concerned, the Commission and the TEN-E Group. If no request is issued within one month, the ENTSO for Electricity and the ENNOH shall submit the draft reports to the Agency for approval. The Agency shall inform the TEN-E Group thereof.

Added▌

Added10. Within two weeks of the approval of the infrastructure needs identification reports by the Agency pursuant to paragraph5, the ENTSO for Electricity and the ENNOH shall publish them on their website respectively, together with the corresponding final data, assumptions and relevant sources in a sufficiently accurate form. Where relevant, the ENTSO for Electricity and the ENNOH shall update the infrastructure needs identification reports, including as regards grid enhancing technologies, in accordance with the sensitivity analyses adopted pursuant to Article 11, when requested by the Commission.

Added11. By [9 months after entry into force of this Regulation] the Agency, after having conducted an extensive consultation involving the Commission, the Member States the ENTSO for Electricity, the ENTSO for Gas, the ENNOH, the EU DSO Entity and other relevant stakeholders, shall publish a binding methodology for the identification of infrastructure needs. The methodology shall ensure that the infrastructure needs identification is carried out and updated at least every two years.

Added12. The methodology shall be developed on the basis of the principles laid down in Annex VII and shall ensure their consistent application in the infrastructure needs identification process.

Added13. The Agency on its own initiative, or upon request of the Commission, shall update the methodology where necessary.

Added14. Until 1 January 2027, this Article applies subject to the transitional provisions set out in Article 61 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1789.