4Recitals 11, 60 and 61 of Directive 2009/28, before being repealed by Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (OJ 2018 L 328, p. 82), were worded as follows:(11) It is necessary to set transparent and unambiguous rules for calculating the share of energy from renewable sources and for defining those sources. ……(60) Priority access and guaranteed access for electricity from renewable energy sources are important for integrating renewable energy sources into the internal market in electricity, in line with Article 11(2) and developing further Article 11(3) of [Directive 2003/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2003 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 96/92/EC – Declarations on decommissioning and waste management operations (OJ 2003 L 176, p. 37)]. Requirements relating to the maintenance of the reliability and safety of the grid and to the dispatching may differ according to the characteristics of the national grid and its secure operation. Priority access to the grid provides an assurance given to connected generators of electricity from renewable energy sources that they will be able to sell and transmit the electricity from renewable energy sources in accordance with connection rules at all times, whenever the source becomes available. In the event that the electricity from renewable energy sources is integrated into the spot market, guaranteed access ensures that all electricity sold and supported obtains access to the grid, allowing the use of a maximum amount of electricity from renewable energy sources from installations connected to the grid. However, this does not imply any obligation on the part of Member States to support or introduce purchase obligations for energy from renewable sources. In other systems, a fixed price is defined for electricity from renewable energy sources, usually in combination with a purchase obligation for the system operator. In such a case, priority access has already been given.(61) In certain circumstances it is not possible fully to ensure transmission and distribution of electricity produced from renewable energy sources without affecting the reliability or safety of the grid system. In such circumstances it may be appropriate for financial compensation to be given to those producers. Nevertheless, the objectives of this Directive require a sustained increase in the transmission and distribution of electricity produced from renewable energy sources without affecting the reliability or safety of the grid system. To this end, Member States should take appropriate measures in order to allow a higher penetration of electricity from renewable energy sources, inter alia, by taking into account the specificities of variable resources and resources which are not yet storable. To the extent required by the objectives set out in this Directive, the connection of new renewable energy installations should be allowed as soon as possible. In order to accelerate grid connection procedures, Member States may provide for priority connection or reserved connection capacities for new installations producing electricity from renewable energy sources.’
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