Green Fix to Replace Russian Gas Is Stymied by Europe’s Red Tape

Ten-thousand euros to print binders full of documents. Years in court to defend lawsuits. Hiring local contractors to lobby small-town bureaucrats.

Energy producers say these time-consuming bottlenecks are thwarting Europe’s push to ditch Russia and be more self-reliant.

European leaders promised to scale up the continent’s renewable-power capacity while reducing imports of Russian gas, but words move faster than permits. Builders say fast-tracking the energy transition means unraveling red tape and reconciling lofty, national climate ambitions with the limited capacity of most local authorities to implement them.

A solar farm in Sonnewalde, Germany.

Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

“There’s only one way to accelerate the supply of electricity into the ...