On Monday, February 13, the European Commission proposed detailed rules defining renewable hydrogen. Two delegated acts required under the Renewable Energy Directive were adopted for this purpose.
The acts are part of the EU’s hydrogen framework. These, include investments in energy infrastructure and state aid rules, as well as legislative targets for renewable hydrogen in the industrial and transportation sectors. They are intended to ensure that all fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) are produced from renewable electricity and included in member states’ renewable energy targets.
REPowerEU boosts hydrogen ambitions in Europe
As part of the European Commission’s REPowerEU plan by 2030, the European Union is expected to manifest a hydrogen demand of 20 million tons per year, 10 million of which is to be produced from renewable sources within the Union, with the remainder coming from imports. To this end, some 120 GW of electrolyzer capacity is planned to be installed by the end of the decade.
The REPoweEU’s RFNBO targets are higher than those contained just a year earlier in the Fit for 55 package and the European Commission’s 2021 proposal to revise the 2018 RED. The target for RFNBO in transportation has risen from 2.6% to 5.7%, and the target for replacing gray hydrogen used in industry with renewable hydrogen has increased from 50% to 75%.
Experts indicate that about 500 TWh of renewable energy will be required to produce 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen in the EU. This amount of electricity is equal to the amount of energy generated by all installed wind power plants (onshore and offshore) in the EU-27 and the UK in 2021[1].
EC target: More renewables, fewer emissions
According to the EC, the first delegated act specifies under what conditions hydrogen, hydrogen-based fuels, and other energy carriers can be considered RFNBOs. It also clarifies the “additionality” principle for hydrogen set in the EU Renewable Energy Directive.
This principle is intended to ensure that hydrogen generation from RES sources encourages an increase in the amount of renewable energy available to the grid compared to what already exists. Initial electricity demand for hydrogen production will be negligible but is expected to increase by 2030 with the introduction of mass-scale electrolyzers. The ambition to produce 10 million tons in 2030 is expected to be equivalent to 14% of the EU’s total electricity consumption, which also translated into increasing the target for renewables in the EU’s energy mix to 45% by the end of the decade.
The first delegated act defines the ways in which producers can demonstrate that the electricity used to produce hydrogen complies with the “additionality” rule and introduces criteria for ensuring that renewable hydrogen is produced when and where sufficient energy is available.
The second delegated act, in turn, specifies the methodology for calculating life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions for RFNBO. This includes emissions associated with taking electricity from the grid, processing, and transporting these fuels. In addition, it clarifies how to calculate the GHG emissions of renewable hydrogen or its derivatives when it is co-produced at a fossil fuel plant.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_594
[1] RFNBOs: Getting sustainability right from the start. T&E submission to Commission consultation on Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RNFBOs)
