The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) published, on Thursday 11 February, a set of recommendations to the European Commission in order to define the regulatory conditions that would allow the development of the most cost-effective ‘power-to-gas’ solutions.
In this White Paper, the regulators recommend in particular to “ensure traceability of renewable energy throughout the integrated energy system”, by establishing definitions and criteria for sustainable gases “unambiguously”.
The aim is to check whether the gases from ‘power-to-gas’ installations are environmentally sustainable, taking into account the carbon emissions associated with the entire production process and allowing for economic recovery (e.g. guarantees of origin).
Regulators also recommend reviewing the current definitions of the main energy activities in EU electricity and gas legislation, in particular ‘energy storage’, to better reflect the integration of the electricity and gas sectors.
In addition, they call for the inclusion of ‘power-to-gas’ installations and their appropriate locations in the network development planning carried out by electricity and gas network operators (ENTSOs).
Finally, regulators stress the need to avoid distortionary effects of taxes and levies on the integrated energy system and to prevent transmission and distribution system operators, other than in exceptional cases, from investing in and operating ‘power-to-gas’ facilities.
This White Paper follows a first set of recommendations from regulators on the regulation of future hydrogen networks (see EUROPE 12654/15).
See the white paper: https://bit.ly/3tUJ7Kr (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)