While the European Commission was set to adopt two delegated acts to establish EU-wide criteria for a clear definition of ‘renewable fuels of non-biological origin’ (RFNBO) - a category that includes renewable hydrogen and its derivatives - the European Parliament held a voting session that could upset the procedure originally expected on Wednesday 14 September when it adopted its position on the revision of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).
This voting session led to the narrow adoption (314 votes in favour, 310 against and 20 abstentions) of amendment 13 (see EUROPE 13021/23). Proposed by the EPP group, it plans to introduce the criteria for renewable hydrogen production in the RED directive, rather than waiting for the adoption of the two Commission delegated acts (the approach favoured by the Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy - see EUROPE 12992/5).
“The EPP group’s amendment really took the wind out of the European Commission’s sails”, analysed Maxime Sagot, head of institutional relations at France Hydrogène.
He believes the Parliament is now proposing “much more relaxed” rules than those envisaged by the Commission (see EUROPE 12959/22).
“Many in the industry, including Hydrogen Europe, have been calling on MEPs to act and prevent the Commission from imposing its rules, which they consider too strict”, he told EUROPE.
These rules include in particular the respect of the principle of additionality.
Under this rule, a hydrogen producer deploying an electrolyser somewhere in Europe would be required to contribute to the deployment or financing of renewable energy so that the increase in renewable hydrogen production is matched by a corresponding increase in renewable energy production.
“The aim is to ensure that there is no cannibalisation of renewable electricity”, summarised Mr Sagot.
Another criterion is “temporal correlation”: “This is the idea that the renewable electricity supplied to the hydrogen producer must be consumed by the electrolyser within a certain time frame”.
In a draft version of the delegated acts recently obtained by EUROPE, the Commission envisaged that this correlation would be monthly until 2030 before becoming hourly, while allowing for some flexibility on the principle of additionality. As Mr Sagot acknowledges, this is a softening of the earlier versions of the texts (see EUROPE 12959/22).
“But the rules adopted by the Parliament are still much more flexible”, he believes, as amendment 13 “removes additionality and defines temporal correlation on a quarterly basis”.
He added: “The Parliament’s vote represents a victory for all those who wanted to relax the criteria and prevent the Commission from legislating”.
For its part, Hydrogen Europe welcomed “the return of the additionality principle to legal regulation”, which “will ease the implementation of the additionality principle for renewable hydrogen”.
“MEPs have listened to the sector’s concerns that overly strict regulations would hinder the development of this crucial market”, the organisation said in a statement, while pledging its support for the principle of additionality.
No rules for imported hydrogen
Just after approving amendment 13, MEPs rejected by a few votes (318 against, 311 in favour and 12 abstentions) amendment 14, which would have applied the rules contained in amendment 13 to imported hydrogen.
For Mr Sagot, the Parliament’s position would therefore risk leading to distortions of competition and greenwashing because of the absence of rules for imported hydrogen. “When you see all the hydrogen projects and partnerships that the EU wants to sign with Namibia, Egypt and Morocco, countries with a carbon-intensive electricity mix, it is legitimate to be concerned about the risk that the hydrogen imported by the EU will not in fact be entirely renewable. That’s why it’s important to apply stringent criteria to imports as well”, he said.
Delegated acts left pending?
The question that now arises is the future of the two delegated acts planned by the Commission.
Asked at a press conference about this matter, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said on Wednesday that she would respect MEPs’ choice, without providing further explanation. Since then, the Commission has not yet responded to our requests for clarification.
According to Mr Sagot, a “period of uncertainty and regulatory instability” can be expected for several months during which the delegated acts will be “frozen” while interinstitutional negotiations (‘trilogues’) on the revision of the ‘RED II’ directive are completed.
See Parliament’s report with amendments 13 and 14: https://aeur.eu/f/33c (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)