The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union sent to the national delegations of the EU countries on Thursday 29 April a document inviting the ambassadors of the Member States to the EU (Coreper) to provide political guidance on a number of divisive issues regarding the proposed revision of the European regulation (347/2013) on the Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E).
Including natural gas for now?
Unsurprisingly, the first question put to the ambassadors concerned natural gas projects, more specifically the possibility of a transitional period for natural gas projects already on the list of ‘projects of common interest’ (PCIs) and at an advanced stage.
According to the Commission’s revision proposal (see EUROPE 12623/3), natural gas infrastructure and pipelines would no longer qualify for PCI status under the regulation, thus excluding them from the possibility of receiving EU funding under the ‘Connecting Europe Facility’ (CEF).
Faced with such a scenario, some Member States have “expressed the concern that a number of strategic projects [related to natural gas] will not be finished when the new Regulation comes into force and that they will lose their PCI status”, the Portuguese Presidency document notes.
These countries therefore propose that strategic natural gas infrastructure projects currently registered as PCIs should have the possibility to retain this status and be eligible for the first list of PCIs to be adopted under the revised TEN-E Regulation. This option was also defended by the European Parliament’s rapporteur on this dossier, Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR, Poland) (see EUROPE 12695/8).
Transitional period for redevelopment?
The Presidency’s second question concerns the possibility of providing for another transitional period for projects aimed at upgrading the existing gas infrastructure to allow for the transport of pure hydrogen or hydrogen mixed with methane or biomethane.
According to the Portuguese document, some Member States have “argued that blending of hydrogen and biomethane will be instrumental in scaling up the renewable hydrogen production capacity, facilitating transport of hydrogen when volumes are not sufficient for dedicated hydrogen systems”.
The same States have also reportedly indicated that upgrading existing gas infrastructure will be one of the most cost-effective solutions for decarbonising the energy sector.
Therefore, they request that projects related to the upgrading of the existing gas infrastructure for the transport of methane and hydrogen mixtures be eligible for PCI status.
It should be noted that the first draft compromise proposed by Lisbon (see EUROPE 12708/17) foresees the inclusion of a transitional period of 5 years (from the entry into force of the Regulation) for upgraded gas assets used for the transport or storage of a predefined mixture of hydrogen and natural gas or biomethane.
Projects on islands
Finally, the Presidency asks whether projects in disadvantaged, less connected, peripheral, outermost or isolated regions, such as islands, should be eligible for PCI status under the revised regulation.
While some Member States such as Cyprus and Malta argue that this would accelerate the decarbonisation process of these regions and reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, other EU countries believe that this would be contrary to the principle of PCIs. Indeed, one of the main criteria for PCI status is to have cross-border effects between Member States.
In its first draft compromise, Lisbon proposes that this possibility be included for projects located in islands not sufficiently connected to the Trans-European Energy Networks and which contribute significantly to the decarbonisation objectives of the island energy system and those of the Union, as well as to the sustainability of the territory in which it is located.
See the Portuguese Presidency document: https://bit.ly/3e4HWC8 (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)