Licensing labyrinth

For the following material Energiaklub and the subcontracted Dr. Lengyel Attila Attorney Office conducted 33 face-to-face and several telephone interviews with entities involved as part of an intensive research. Also the relevant Hungarian regulations were processed.
 
The study describes the general characteristics of the current licensing procedure for each renewable energy technology and adverts to the fact that there are specific anomalies in almost every licensing procedure for renewable energy technology instalments.
 
The licensing procedures are complex, and in many cases they are not coherent from a legislative point of view. It is usually typical of the permission procedure that 3 to 6 main authorities and, upon inclusion by the main authorities, several additional specialised authorities are involved. For licensing geothermal power plants, for instance, 6 main authorities have authority, and up to 36 specialised authorities and utility providers can participate in the procedure. Authorities are often unable to keep procedural deadlines, the fees of administrative procedures as defined by law often differ significantly from the actual costs arising in the course of licensing procedures.

Streamlining the current licensing system and weeding out the relevant laws and decrees would be a great help in freeing energy generation based on renewable energy sources from obstacles, as promoted by the Directive among the member states.

Energiaklub and Dr. Lengyel Attila Attorney Office have been appointed by the Hungarian Energy Office to work out proposals for legislative amendments to make renewable energy licensing procedures faster and more effective.

The comprehensive study is available in Hungarian as a free download from our website.
The English abstract can be downloaded here.