Gas for Climate, a consortium of 12 gas sector organisations, published a new report on Thursday 23 April with recommendations for decarbonising the European gas sector by 2050.
In particular, it recommends: (1) Adapting the European regulations on Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E) and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to focus more on facilitating the coupling of renewable gas sectors and projects; (2) stimulating the production of biomethane and hydrogen through a binding mandate requiring that 10% of gas in European networks be from renewable sources by 2030; (3) fostering cross-border trade in hydrogen and biomethane; (4) stimulating demand for hydrogen and biomethane by strengthening and expanding the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Scheduled for the end of 2020, the revision of the TEN-E regulation (347/2013) could follow three distinct pathways, according to a Commission Note recently revealed by Politico (https://bit.ly/3avtDl1 ). While the second pathway reportedly focuses on “new gases” such as hydrogen or biogas, the third apparently removes all support for gas. As an intermediate option, the first pathway would maintain support for key natural gas infrastructure with, in parallel, the introduction of “new infrastructure priorities for renewable gas”.
To view the report: https://bit.ly/2Vu4RO0 (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)