Renewable Energy Laws

This thesis examines the law and policy concerning renewable energy electricity generation in Palestine, Jordan, and Abu Dhabi. The thesis gives greater attention to the promotion of solar power owing to the abundance and viability. It appears that energy security profoundly underpins the utilisation of renewable electricity, and the motivation of climate change mitigation also pays a role in the promotion of renewable energy in these jurisdictions. However, current policies and regulations are not fully able to promote the renewables in the power sector. The thesis submits that reforms of law and policy are necessary to enhance the achievement of environmental and energy goals.

This article critically analyses recent developments in Australia's renewable energy law and policy. It identifies seven retrograde steps taken in energy and climate law in Australia in the last five years. Barriers to clean energy law-in the form of recurring narratives employed against the rise of renewable energy across Australia-are examined. Increased levels of renewable energy are portrayed by opponents as a threat to the security and reliability of electricity supply. Yet, the nation is currently experiencing a major renewable energy investment boom, supported by regional policy initiatives that are driving innovation, most recently in energy storage.

Jordan has been suffering from dependence on imported energy for decades and the recent geopolitical situations in its neighbouring countries have affected its energy security, allowing only an intermittent supply of imported fuels to Jordan. Moreover, the consequent volatility of fuel prices resulted in immense debt for the National Electricity Company in 2013. To manage these crises, the Jordanian government aims to diversify Jordan's energy sources and to promote local energy production. It has begun a gradual reduction in subsidies for fossil fuels and it has prepared legal and financial forecasts based on the strong potentials of solar and wind power. Despite its adoption of economic instruments, such as net metering and auction provisions, the government did not achieve its targeted 7% of energy from renewable sources by 2015. To ensure the achievement of the target of 10% by 2020 and the effective implementation of the plan for green growth, Jordan's energy laws and policies need to be revised continuously.

The United States is still in a quest for a Unified National Energy Regime. Whether it succeeds to bring all its energy sources under a uniform regulated national regime, it remains to be seen. But can we even debate this question in an environment where fossil resource dependence had created a preferential treatment over renewables? The Bush administration ushered in this upper hand preference on the fossil industry, over renewables. The Bush era officials, many of them petroleum enthusiasts themselves can be thought to be responsible for the less growth, and the inability to promote renewables. But the Obama administration came to break the country from this foreign oil dependence.
But how long will it take before renewables can contribute and compete, while it finds itself in the infancy it is still in?
This debate dives deep into this discussion.

This paper analyses the regulatory framework for renewable electricity in Palestine. The State of Palestine has inherited accumulative problems in its electricity sector, as in many other sectors, mainly due to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories since June 1967. These territories include the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The Occupied Palestinian Territories were declared by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2012 to hold non-member state status, and have since been known as the ‘State of Palestine’. Multifaceted limitations and restrictions resulting from the occupation have impeded development in the electricity sector as a pivotal public service. However, the Palestinian Government has recently attempted to take control over electricity and to restructure the sector using legal instruments. The government has adopted regulations and embraced a target to promote the use of renewable energy sources for the generation of electricity. This paper argues that despite the Palestinian Government’s attempt to achieve the renewable target, the law needs to be revised thoroughly to ensure increased promotion of alternative energy generation sources.

La tesis estudia el régimen jurídico-administrativo de la producción de electricidad a partir de energías renovables —eólica, solar (térmica y fotovoltaica), hidráulica, biomasa, etc.—, residuos y cogeneración, lo que en nuestro país se ha instrumentado a través del denominado régimen especial de producción de electricidad. Al análisis “desde dentro” de los problemas jurídicos del régimen especial, se añade el examen de la compatibilidad de esta normativa con las disposiciones comunitarias sobre competencia y libre circulación de mercancías.
El trabajo se divide en dos partes claramente diferenciadas, precedidas de un Capítulo Preliminar. Este capítulo, después de aclarar qué tipo de energías primarias y tecnologías de producción se incluyen en el régimen especial, trata los principales argumentos que justifican la intervención de los poderes públicos a favor de la generación eléctrica de origen renovable y la procedente de los residuos, así como de la cogeneración.
La Parte Primera, se dedica al estudio del régimen especial “en” y “desde” la regulación del sector eléctrico. En ella no se pretende examinar toda la normativa que afecta a las instalaciones de generación acogidas a este régimen, sino sólo aquella que les es aplicable en razón de su condición de instalaciones que participan en la actividad de generación eléctrica. El análisis se centra, por tanto, en el conjunto de reglas al que está sometido este tipo de generación eléctrica a diferencia de las que rigen la producción en régimen ordinario; es decir, en el régimen especial en sí mismo considerado.
Concluido el análisis del régimen especial “desde dentro” de la regulación del sector eléctrico, la Segunda Parte del trabajo se dedica al examen de dicho régimen desde el punto de vista de su adecuación a Derecho. Tras una sucinta referencia a la posible colisión del régimen especial con el derecho constitucional a la libertad de empresa, el estudio se centra en la compatibilidad del citado régimen con el Derecho comunitario, tanto originario, como derivado.
Por un lado, se analiza si las disposiciones del Tratado de la Comunidad Europea relativas a la libre circulación y a la competencia —normas relativas a las ayudas de Estado, en concreto— son contrarias al régimen especial de la LSE. Por otro, se estudia la compatibilidad del régimen especial con los principios básicos establecidos por la Directiva 96/92/CE, sobre normas comunes para el mercado interior de la electricidad, así como respecto de la reciente Directiva 2001/77/CE, de 27 de septiembre, relativa a la promoción de la electricidad generada a partir de fuentes de energía renovables en el mercado interior de la electricidad.
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The doctoral dissertation is about the special regime of electricity generation, which is the legal framework for the generation of electricity by facilities supplied by renew-able energy sources (such as solar, wind, geothermal, wave, tidal, and hydroelectric energy, or biomass), waste and cogeneration. Special regime fosters the development of these facilities due to its environmental and strategic benefits, benefits that must be internalised, because the free market is not able to recognize them.
Part I of the thesis focuses on the analysis of the special regime itself: facilities included, transitory regimes, authorisations needed for the operation of the plant, register, rights and duties of the generators (in particular, the right to transfer their electric power to the grid paying for it a market price plus a premium), etc.
In Part II, the work analyses the compatibility of the special regime with the European Community Law regarding to free movement of goods and State aids. It also studies the conformity of the special regime with the EC Directive 96/92/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity, and with the more recent Directive 2001/77/EC, of 27 September 2001, on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market.

Net metering is a support scheme for the promotion of renewable energy sources (RES) that is linked with state-of-the-art trends, especially in the field of electricity, such as distributed generation, self-consumption and energy communities. Whilst the European Union (EU) Clean Energy Package has established a more coherent and comprehensive regime for RES support schemes in general, it makes no explicit reference to net metering schemes. This raises questions as to how and under which terms net metering schemes are compatible with EU law. Against this background, this article aims to analyse the relevant EU law provisions and conduct a comparative analysis of net metering regimes in four Member States to demonstrate that the national schemes enacted and applied have significantly different design features. The article argues that a more coordinated and specific approach on net metering at the EU level should emerge.

In this article, the author will analyse the role of Renewable Energy Law 2005, as amended in 2009, in supporting the development of off-grid renewable electricity (OGRE) with a view to exceeding China's actual electricity needs in an environmentally sustainable manner. The author will focus primarily on how the law has addressed the main issues hindering the development of the sector. The identified issues are lack of technological capacity and awareness of/access to initial capital of OGRE projects. The author will argue that the implementation of some of the law's provisions have been fundamental to the accelerated development of OGRE when compared to how this used to be. First of all, the Law provides a clear context for the development of OGRE that is reinforced by priority statutory provision. The result of the priority provision is that OGRE investments and projects have priority over fossil fuel electricity investments in accessing existing electricity and climate-change funding. Secondly, the law has resulted in the adoption of targets for a number of OGRE strategies and follow-up implementation measures. Again, provisions for the inclusion of lower tiers of government in the adoption of targets and implementation measures have helped in garnering grass-root actions for addressing previously identified barriers to OGRE development. The implementation of provisions for preferential bank loans and a Renewable Energy Development Fund (REDF) have been beneficial in addressing the issue of financing OGRE projects. Notwithstanding these positive developments, the author will argue that there are some areas for improvement in the design and implementation of the Law in the context of supporting the development of OGRE. One such area is the lack of comprehensive targets for the whole of the OGRE sector. Another challenge is the recommendatory nature of the obligation on banks to provide preferential loans to OGRE projects. The author will conclude that addressing the identified gaps would strengthen the role of Renewable Energy Law 2005 in supporting the development of OGRE in China.

本研究關注如何透過法制的設計，促進國家制定出好的再生能源補貼政策與措施。國家補貼在各國能源轉型及再生能源發展過程中扮演重要角色，我國亦正值使用補貼措施扶植再生能源邁向永續經營之階段，但用以控管政策與措施品質之管制框架尚不明確。實則，國家補貼管制(State Aid Control)，有助於提升決策品質、保障人民權利、控管國家資源、及減緩對市場競爭機制之負面影響，在再生能源發展進程中有其價值。本研究從歐盟法之經驗出發，簡介歐盟再生能源國家補貼多層次之管制框架及內涵，尤其著重《歐盟執委會環境保護與能源之國家補貼綱領2014-2020》之七項「共同衡量原則」，並提出對我國管制之評估與建議，認為我國可建構類似之「合理標準」，並定期檢驗相關法制，以使資源更有效率地投注於再生能源之發展，透過合理的國家補貼達成能源政策目標。
This research focuses on how to promote the formulation of good state aid policies and measures for renewable energy through a regulatory framework. State aid plays an important role in the energy transition and the development of renewable energies in different countries. Taiwan also uses aid measures to support renewable energies in the current phase towards the goal of sustainability. In this situation, a set of state aid control in the field of renewable energy can improve the quality of decision-making, protecting human rights, controlling state resources and avoiding negative impacts on the competitive marketplace. Based on the experience of EU law, this study presents the multilevel legal framework and the connotation of state aid for renewable energies in the EU, especially focusing on the seven ‘common assessment principles’ of the ‘Guidelines on State Aid for Environmental Protection and Energy 2014-2020’. This article proposes assessments and recommendations on a related regulation module in Taiwan, believing that Taiwan can set similar ‘reasonable standards’ and regularly review as well as renew rules so that state resources can be invested more efficiently in renewable energy development and energy policies can be achieved through ‘reasonable’ state aid.

This contribution examines the generation-based support schemes for renewable energy sources. It investigates the design choices that Member States have made so far and the stance that the Commission has adopted on these choices. Moreover, it provides a taxonomy of different support schemes and calls attention to the category of price instruments. Accordingly, it analyses the position of price support schemes within the new legal framework (Directive 2018/2001, 'RED II'), which adopts a rather pro-quantity instruments stance.

This is a draft chapter. The final version is available in Economic Instruments for a Low-carbon Future edited by Theodoros Zachariadis, Janet E. Milne, Mikael Skou Andersen and Hope Ashiabor, published in 2020, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781839109911.00011 The material cannot be used for any other purpose without further permission of the publisher, and is for private use only.

In September 2017, time came for the momentous but also controversial PreussenElektra formula to be applied again. In ENEA, not only did the CJEU confirm the PreussenElektra dogma, but it also expanded on its precious case law. Thus, a narrow interpretation of the notion of aid 'granted by State or through State resources' seems to be re-established. Therefore, ENEA has the potential to prove an influential judgement that will determine the design of national aid schemes and will contribute to the development of State aid law. This article analyses the ENEA judgement in the light of previous CJEU landmark cases and raises certain questions concerning its implications.

This article presents a critical analysis of Australia’s federal renewable energy law. It operation as a system of tradeable renewable energy certificates is briefly explained, before an analysis of the future of the Renewable Energy Target beyond 2020 is undertaken. The implications of the Federal Government’s recently abandoned National Energy Guarantee and the subsequent decision not to expand or extend the Renewable Energy Target are discussed. The article presents an international comparison which demonstrates that Australia’s national support for renewable energy is unambitious in relative terms. It argues that in several respects, Australian federal renewable energy law must be extended to address important issues that are presently receiving little legislative or political attention.

TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL FILE OF THE ARTICLE: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2802157

China is appraised to have the world's largest exploitable reserves of shale gas, although several legal, regulatory, environmental and investment-related issues will likely restrain its scope. China's capacity to successfully face these hurdles and produce commercial shale gas will have a crucial impact on the regional gas market and on China’s energy mix, as Beijing strives to decrease reliance on imported oil and coal, while attempting to meet growing energy demand and maintain a certain level of resource autonomy. The development of the unconventional natural gas extractive industry will also endow China with further negotiating power to obtain more advantageous prices from Russia and future liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers. This paper, adopting a comparative perspective, underlines the trends learned from unconventional fuel development in the United States, emphasizing their potential application to the Chinese context in light of recently signed production-sharing contracts between qualified foreign investors and China. The wide range of regulatory and enforcement problems in this matter are accrued by an extremely limited  liberalization of gas prices, lack of technological development, and political hurdles curbing the opening of resource extraction to private investors. These issues are exacerbated by concerns related to the risk of water pollution deriving from mismanaged drilling and fracturing, absence of adequate regulation framework and industry standards, entailing consequences on social stability and environmental degradation.

TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL FILE OF THE ARTICLE: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2802157

In this study, the importance of renewable energy usage, recent incentives, renewable energy policies and the legal basic of renewable energy in Turkey and European Union directives are investigated. The goal of this research is to analyze and evaluate juristic changes in the Turkish legal system as well as obtain insight into the approach of the Supreme Court regarding renewable energy. The subject matter of this work concerns juristic dimensions rather than economic issues. Furthermore, it aims to highlight the Directives of the EU guidelines relating to renewable energy in the example of Turkey. 
Keywords: Renewable energy, Renewable energy law, Renewable energy sources, Renewable energy directives.

This Chapter unpacks the complementarities between two key trends: the rising importance of cities as sub-national actors and the rise of distributed generation. The central premise here is that there are potential synergies between the two.
Whereas in the past our electricity was produced almost entirely by a few larger facilities and then transmitted to our homes, these days, with a solar panel on our roof, we can all be part of the energy production cycle. This is known as “distributed generation.” Solar panels are probably the most intuitive example, but distributed generation includes a much wider range of technologies, from diesel powered generators to smart-meters and even tiny wind-turbines that can plug into your phone. Importantly, distributed generation is inherently about producing electricity in close proximity to where it is consumed. Cities, in turn, are particularly well-suited to develop policies that can enable the flourishing of distributed generation, given the jurisdictional powers they typically hold over things like buildings, transport, streets, and more. Cities’ potential in this regard is even greater, given that they house about half of the world’s population, which means many more energy users lie within the city realms. The chapter thus examines whether, and to what extent, cities and local communities advance the transition toward carbon neutral energy by adopting or enabling distributed generation. It does so by drawing an example from one of the most vibrant global cities: London, UK.
The chapter makes two main scholarly contributions. First, it offers a rich description of London’s distributed generation efforts. Second, more broadly, it analyzes the role that cities can play in the transition toward distributed generation, which is particularly significant in an era when more than half of the world lives in cities. By calling attention to the intersection between urban hubs and distributed production of energy, the chapter also contributes to the conceptual discussion regarding the nature of “distributed” governance.

Bangladesh’s constant growth with an annual 6% plus Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for more than the last two decades and achievements in other socio-economic metrics in recent times is impressive and recognized by various global authoritative bodies. The extent of overwhelming economic ventures in the private sector coupled with the commitments of the government clearly demonstrates the transformation of the country from a primarily agro-based economy to one influenced by the manufacturing and service sectors. Bangladesh is fortunate to have fossil fuel reserves on a limited scale, though these are not enough to run the ongoing massive scale development activities, both in private and public sectors. Thus, the constant and uninterrupted supply of energy at an affordable price remains a serious concern for the successive governments. Therefore, this issue of supply of constant energy has turned to be an important part in the national development agenda. Besides, the country is one of ...

Nigeria, like other nations, has long recognised the potentials of renewable energy in the promotion of environmental sustainability. However, unlike countries such as China, Brazil and Germany, Nigeria's huge renewable energy potentials have not been fully utilised. This is due to a number of factors, such as Nigeria's overdependence on the crude oil revenue, lack of an overarching legal framework that articulates a comprehensive strategy for promotion of renewable energy and political will to drive enforcement and implementation of extant policies on renewables. One of the overarching objectives of Nigeria's National Energy Policy is to guarantee adequate, reliable and sustainable supply of energy at appropriate costs and in an environmentally friendly manner, to the various sectors of the economy, for national development. However, a review of Nigeria's legal and institutional framework on renewal energy development shows that the approach is not well focused on the ideals of environmental sustainability, as the emphasis seem to be more on energy access and sufficiency than on environmental sustainability. The many regulatory institutions that exist in both the power sector and the environment sometimes have overlapping mandates and responsibilities, resulting in disagreements between agencies over jurisdictional boundaries. Environmental sustainability forms one of the pillars of sustainability development, the others being social sustainability and economic sustainability. It is an aspect of the development process which emphasises the harnessing of natural and social resources with major considerations for continuity and the future. Renewable energy sources such as biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar and wind, energy sources are by their nature infinite and environmentally friendly when compared to conventional energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas. There is, therefore, a global shift to support the promotion of renewable energy. Investment in renewable electricity would be desirable for increasing energy security, mitigating climate change and promoting economic development. However, Nigeria's energy sector is dominated by oil and gas consumption. Most investments in the sector are currently in oil and gas generating plants. Owing to prolonged investments and economies of scale, the cost of generation of electricity from oil and gas is lower than that of renewable energy installations. Apart from hydropower, renewable energy sources hardly feature as part of

In a bid to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) into the energy sector, Nigeria has signed many investment and energy-related treaties. However, many of these treaties have not been ratified and domesticated as required by the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and as such cannot be applied by domestic courts in investment dispute settlement when necessary. This raises serious legal questions on the status (within the country) of the various energy investment-relevant treaties Nigeria has entered into. This is especially relevant to BITs where their non-domestication renders their provisions not legally binding on domestic courts. It becomes problematic in situations where certain provisions in BITS such as the exhaustion of local remedies (ELR), fork-in-the-road (FITR), denial of justice and expropriation claims, require disputes to be addressed (at least initially) at domestic courts before international arbitration is accessed, despite the usual practice of settling investment disputes at international arbitral tribunals. This issue is not trivial for Nigeria, as some of its enforced BITs contain provisions for recourse to domestic courts. Also investors are increasing becoming aware of the importance of BITs and so this should be taken serious as a preventive measure. Hence, this paper provided a discourse on various ways non-domestication of treaties could affect investment interests of a dualist country such as Nigeria that is actively seeking to attract FDI for the development of its energy sector. Pointing out the implications and various ways both investor's and Nigeria's interests could be undermined, and argued for a reform in the way treaties are implemented in Nigeria, to facilitate domestication of treaties.

When approaching State measures in the energy sector, a closer inspection of European State aid law and the relevant case law
should take place. While there are numerous energy cases, which have come before the ECJ, the focus will be shifted on two significant
cases, whose rulings provided insightful reference for subsequent cases: case C379/98 – PreussenElektra AG v Schleswag AG and case T-47/15 – Germany v Commission.

Even though both cases seem to have a similar background, the ECJ made it clear that a distinction existed between them. The aim of this specific paper is to highlight why these two cases were decided on different legal grounds, in light of Art. 107 TFEU.