The Renewable Energy Directive III (RED III) entered into force on 20 November 2023. It provides for the increased deployment of renewable energy across the EU by 2030, including provisions to simplify and accelerate the permit-granting procedure for renewable energy projects. It allowed for an 18-month period to transpose most of its provisions into national law ending on 21st May 2025 and a shorter deadline of the 1st July 2024 for provisions relating to permit granting for renewable energy projects.
Specifically, the deadline for transposition of articles 15e(5), 16, 16b, 16c(2), 16c(3), 16d, 16e and 16f of the Directive which relate to permit-granting procedures for renewable energy projects was 1st July 2024. The European Union (Planning and Development) (Renewable Energy) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 274 of 2025) transposed these provisions into the planning code.
Article 16(2) of RED III provides that for applications for development outside renewable acceleration areas, the competent authority shall acknowledge the completeness of the application within 45 days.
The completeness check required by RED III is more than the validation check which applies to the development management process in planning presently. The completeness check requires greater scrutiny of the information and documentation included with a planning application to the extent that a planning authority or An Coimisiún Pleanála is satisfied that the application could proceed to full assessment and final determination.
The completeness check period of 45 days is longer than the 5 week public consultation period. Therefore, if an application is acknowledged as complete at the end of the completeness check process, any 3rd party submissions received during the 5 week public consultation period will be valid as they will have been made based on the application going forward for assessment and final determination.
There are no plans presently to extend the standard 5 week public consultation period.
