Spain, Portugal, and Luxembourg have urged the European Union to set renewable energy targets for 2040, arguing that the EU should accelerate its clean energy rollout to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and on geopolitical disruptions to oil and gas supply.
“Because of geopolitical uncertainties, and as shown by the consequences of the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, we need to act fast to cut [dependence on fossil fuels]”, the energy ministers of Spain, Portugal, and Luxembourg wrote in a letter to European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, in a letter seen by Bloomberg News.
“The 2040 EU renewables target should send a clear signal to investors and markets,” the ministers of the three EU member states wrote.
The EU has binding renewable energy targets for 2030, but not for 2040, on the road to climate neutrality by 2050.
The EU’s target for 2030 is a binding goal for the share of renewable energy in the energy mix to be at least 42.5%.
The share of renewables in EU energy consumption was 26.2% in 2025.
For 2040, the EU only has an emissions target: a legally binding headline emission reduction target of 90% by 2040 relative to 1990, with a domestic target of 85% and up to 5% of international carbon credits.
Spain, Portugal, and Luxembourg’s call for 2040 renewable energy targets comes a few months after renewable energy associations and clean energy stakeholders urged in June the EU Energy Ministers to “establish binding 2040 renewable energy targets and investment-oriented policies that strengthen energy security, enhance industrial competitiveness, accelerate renewable energy deployment, and provide long-term certainty for investors across Europe’s clean energy value chain.”
Solar power, for example, has saved the EU more than 30 billion euros, or $34 billion, in gas imports for power generation in the six months since the start of the Middle East conflict, the SolarPower Europe association said earlier this month.
Despite these benefits, the EU is still heading for a slight contraction in solar deployment this year due to weakening policy support, the industry body warned.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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