The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union maintains the possibility for Member States to take into account low-carbon hydrogen that can be produced from nuclear electricity when calculating national targets for the share of renewable energy in the industry and transport sectors, according to draft compromises dated 8 February on the gas package (one directive, one regulation) of which EUROPE has a copy.
Controversial, such a provision was opposed by countries hostile to nuclear energy - the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria - at the end of 2022, during the ‘Energy’ Council (see EUROPE 13090/4). On the other hand, it is supported by countries that assert their freedom to define their energy mix, such as France, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.
National targets for the share of renewable energy in industry and transport are being negotiated at inter-institutional level in the context of the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive.
The Swedish compromise also allows a Member State to provide for the possibility that a gas transmission operator refuses to connect, or disconnects, natural gas users, inter alia in order to meet the objective of climate neutrality. Any such decision should be taken on the basis of objective, transparent and non-discriminatory criteria developed by the competent national authority.
See the compromise proposal on the directive: https://aeur.eu/f/5e6
In their draft compromise on the regulation, the Swedish authorities require cooperation between national gas transmission system operators to avoid cross-border restrictions at interconnection points. This provision would also apply to gas streams containing hydrogen as long as the hydrogen content does not exceed 2%, a threshold already suggested by the previous Czech Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 13080/10).
In the event of a persistent restriction on gas streams containing less than 2% hydrogen, Sweden has envisaged a procedure to allow the competent national authorities to take a decision within 6 months to allow the restriction to be lifted or, failing that, to be maintained.
The distinction between renewable and low-carbon gas regarding the discounts - 100 and 75% respectively - on tariffs at injection points is also maintained.
See the compromise proposal on the regulation: https://aeur.eu/f/5e7 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)