On Thursday 28 October, the European Commission opened a public consultation on an initiative to establish a method for calculating the amount of renewable energy that was used for cooling and district cooling.
This initiative, which will take the form of a delegated regulation, is intended to complement EU Directive (2018/200) on renewable energy (RED II).
While this directive sets out a method for calculating the share of renewables in electricity, transport and heating, it does not provide a methodology that is able to take into account renewable cooling.
The European Commission therefore wants to put in place a “harmonised methodology” to ensure that renewable energy that is used for cooling is calculated in the same way by each EU Member State and that it is possible to carry out monitoring, reporting and verification activities at EU level.
The Commission is of the opinion that such an approach is necessary to achieve the objectives of the RED II Directive. In particular, it obliges Member States to strive to increase the share of renewable energy in heating and cooling activities by an indicative 1.3% per year, which is calculated as an annual average for the periods 2021–2025 and 2026–2030.
The consultation period will close on 25 November, with the intention of adopting the delegated act before the end of the year.
To participate in the public consultation: https://bit.ly/3GApjlS (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)