The Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union proposed to the Member States, on Tuesday 25 May, to provide for a transition period for retrofitted gas assets under the proposed revision of the EU Regulation (347/2013) on Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E).
“During a transitional period, retrofitted gas assets (...) could be used for the transport or storage of a predefined blend of hydrogen with natural gas or biomethane”, thus provides the new Portuguese draft compromise seen by EUROPE, while specifying that this transitional period will end on 31 December 2029.
The document defines retrofitting as “the physical upgrade of existing natural gas infrastructure for the transport of blends of natural gas with hydrogen or biomethane, in view of the transport of renewable gases only”.
Initially, the European Commission proposed that natural gas infrastructure and pipelines should no longer be included in the categories of energy infrastructure covered by the Regulation (see EUROPE 12623/3). As soon as the revised regulation enters into force, these infrastructures will no longer be eligible for the status of project of common interest (PCI), which provides a number of benefits, including eligibility for EU funding under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
The Portuguese proposal to provide for a transitional period comes shortly after a debate among Member States which was said to have revealed deep divisions among EU countries over this possibility (see EUROPE 12713/7).
Exemptions for Malta and Cyprus
In addition to the transitional period, the new Presidency draft compromise suggests applying an exemption from the revised TEN-E Regulation in the case of Cyprus and Malta until these two island states are directly interconnected to the trans-European gas network.
According to this exemption, projects under development or planning which have already been granted PCI status under the Regulation, and which are necessary to ensure the permanent interconnection of Cyprus and Malta to the trans-European gas network, will retain their PCI status in the revised Regulation.
And the Portuguese document states: “These projects shall ensure in the future the ability to access new energy markets, including hydrogen”.
Moreover, compared to the first draft compromise previously detailed in our columns (see EUROPE 12708/17), Lisbon proposes to change the threshold from which an electrolyser project could be eligible for PCI status.
The project is now expected to provide at least 100 MW (not 50 MW) of installed capacity.
See the draft compromise: https://bit.ly/2SoInPj (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)