Draft internal European Commission documents outline the proposed revision of the third gas package due on 14 December.
This future gas package will consist of a revision of the Directive setting out common rules for the internal market in natural gas and the Regulation on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks.
These reviews will aim to both: (1) establish non-discriminatory rules for the conditions of access to the natural gas and hydrogen systems; (2) establish common rules for the transport, supply and storage of gases, whether natural gas or so-called “renewable” or “low-carbon” gases and hydrogen, as well as for the transition of the natural gas system to a system based on renewable and low-carbon gases.
As the draft documents indicate, the Commission believes that “there will still be a significant household gas consumption including increasing volumes of renewable gases”. “In contrast to electricity, the role of natural gas is expected to decrease”, they say.
The Commission therefore aims to ensure affordable and transparent gas prices, a high level of security of supply and a smooth and fair transition to a carbon-neutral energy system by 2050.
Defining low carbon gases
In response to a recurring request, the Commission is proposing a definition of “low-carbon” gases and hydrogen.
These are gases and hydrogen “whose energy content is derived from non-renewable sources” (in the case of low-carbon hydrogen) and “low-carbon hydrogen” (in the case of low-carbon gases), “which meet the greenhouse gas emission reduction threshold of 70%”. This figure is in square brackets in the draft documents and may be revised.
Certification
The text also provides for the establishment of a certification scheme for renewable and low-carbon gases (including low-carbon hydrogen) based on an assessment of their life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, to ensure that the reduction in emissions from their use is at least 70%.
The aim, the documents state, is “to enable Member States to compare them with other decarbonisation options and consider them in their energy mix as a viable solution”.
Member States are therefore expected to require economic operators to demonstrate compliance with this threshold by providing “reliable information” and via a ‘mass balance’ system, regardless of whether the low-carbon fuels or hydrogen are produced in the EU or imported.
Economic operators would also be required to provide evidence that an adequate and independent level of auditing of the information submitted has been carried out in order to verify that the systems used by economic operators are accurate, reliable and protected against fraud.
If certified, renewable and low-carbon gases could then benefit from reduced transport tariffs.
The European Commission, for its part, would adopt delegated acts to specify the methodology for assessing emissions savings from low-carbon fuels. This “shall ensure that credit for avoided emissions is not given for CO2, the capture of which has already received an emission credit under other provisions of law”, the text says.
‘Blending’
Another particularly important aspect of the gas package is the’blending’ of natural gas with hydrogen.
In this area, the Commission proposes a European ceiling on cross-border interconnection points to limit the risk of market segmentation.
Transmission system operators would thus have to accept cross-border gas flows with a hydrogen content (by volume) of up to 5% starting 1 October 2025. This date is in square brackets in the text and could therefore be changed.
See documents: https://bit.ly/3nNpD9g ; https://bit.ly/3nQgwoB ; https://bit.ly/3nOs4Zf ; https://bit.ly/30YomDl (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)