In the week of 16 September, Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, sent a letter to the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, calling for an extension of the transitional rules in European legislation on “simplified and faster procedures” for the production of renewable hydrogen.
In this letter, Mr Habeck referred to the criteria for hydrogen producers to prove that the electricity they use is of renewable origin, as defined in the delegated act - linked to the Renewable Energy Directive - adopted in 2023 (see EUROPE 13202/35).
In particular, Mr Habeck questions the rapid implementation of the “temporal correlation” criterion, which requires proof of a match between the production of renewable energies on the grid and the production of hydrogen.
Renewable hydrogen must therefore be produced at the same time as renewable electricity is generated.
“From 1 January 2030, renewable electricity and renewable hydrogen produced from this electricity must be produced within the same hour. We would like to extend the transitional period by one year, until the end of 2030”, the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection told Agence Europe.
Mr Habeck also called on the EU to extend the gradual introduction of “additionality” standards until 2035. This is the principle whereby renewable hydrogen supplies to be introduced by 2030 are linked to new renewable energy production in order to encourage an increase in the volume of renewable energy available in the EU.
Germany still supports these measures, says the Ministry, but it believes that “electrolysis projects must be given more time to enter the market under easier conditions”.
According to Mr Habeck, a postponement of the criteria would make it possible to support companies in the face of high project costs and to produce the hydrogen that European industry urgently needs to contribute to the EU’s decarbonisation.
In addition, it believes that such a change would also “have a retroactive effect on the requirements for the purchase of electricity of the production of blue hydrogen” in the forthcoming delegated act on low-carbon hydrogen (see EUROPE 13478/4).
Following publication of the letter, the Hydrogen Europe association welcomed Mr Habeck’s appeal, underlining “the urgent needs of a government in full transition towards renewables and the high grid management costs that come with it”.
The letter: https://aeur.eu/f/djn (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)