• Rural areas hold the highest potential for renewables: Under the JRC’s assessment criteria, most of the suitable land for renewables in the EU is located in rural areas, with 78% for ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and 83% for onshore wind. [...] The level of deployment of rooftop solar PV, dual-use applications for land hosting ground- mounted PV and wind turbines, and the uptake of community-owned energy projects can play a significant role in optimising land use and enhancing local benefits. [...] Whilst there is enough suitable land available to host the needed solar PV capacity, the land requirements for onshore wind exceed the available land identified as suitable, making it imperative to develop a comprehensive mitigation toolbox to ensure the compatibility of future onshore wind projects with areas that may have specific environmental and socio-economic sensitivities. [...] Like in the case of Germany, it is useful to consider that the space requirements of onshore wind do not imply the use of the full surface: only the space used for pylons entails a loss of land. [...] Against this land-use backdrop, and considering the technical production potential for solar and wind technologies, the JRC estimated suitable land for onshore wind at 2.44%, for ground-mounted solar PV at 1.63%, and for rooftop PV at 0.15% of the Polish land territory.
- Pages
- 40
- Published in
- Belgium
Table of Contents
- CONTENTS 2
- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
- EU27 FACTSHEET 4
- Suitable land for renewables 4
- Types of current land use 4
- METHODOLOGY 5
- INTRODUCTION 5
- GERMANY 8
- Key takeaways 8
- DISCUSSION OF COUNTRY CASES 8
- GERMANY Share of total land 9
- Total suitable land for renewables is located 9
- Types of current land use 9
- SPAIN 12
- Key takeaways 12
- SPAIN Share of total land 13
- Total suitable land for renewables is located 13
- Types of current land use 13
- FRANCE 15
- Key takeaways 15
- FRANCE Share of total land 16
- Total suitable land for renewables is located 16
- Types of current land use 16
- ITALY 18
- Key takeaways 18
- ITALY Share of total land 19
- Total suitable land for renewables is located 19
- Types of current land use 19
- POLAND 21
- Key takeaways 21
- POLAND Share of total land 22
- Total suitable land for renewables is located 22
- Types of current land use 22
- ROMANIA 24
- Key takeaways 24
- ROMANIA Share of total land 25
- Total suitable land for renewables is located 25
- Types of current land use 25
- CONCLUSION 28
