Consultation is set to begin within the next few days for an energy ministry draft bill carrying a second round of measures designed to further simplify the RES licensing procedure and establish, for the first time, a complete framework concerning the development of energy storage projects, energypress sources have informed.

A third section of measures concerning development and operation of offshore wind farms, initially intended to be incorporated into this draft bill, is not yet ready. It will be released for consultation at a latter date, the intention being within the year’s first quarter.

The second round of RES licensing simplification measures will improve the country’s investment prospects as the overall time needed for licensing will be drastically reduced from five years at present to 14 months, according to the energy ministry.

Measures in the current draft bill include an initiative fusing three licensing steps into one – operator connection terms; installation license; and an operating contract with RES market operator DAPEEP. Until now, these three RES licensing steps have needed to be taken successively.