EU Delegated Act defining green hydrogen is cleared by European Parliament after committee vote
The definition is crucial because it tells producers whether the H2 they manufacture can be sold and traded as 'renewable' and be eligible for subsidies
The European Parliament effectively agreed to the European Commission’s controversial Delegated Act defining green hydrogen this morning, after the parliamentary committee on industry, research, telecoms & energy voted against an official objection by the centre-right European People’s Party.
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This means that the objection — which had delayed the approval of the Delegated Act — cannot now be heard by the full European Parliament in a plenary session and therefore cannot be upheld.
It was therefore widely accepted by both industry and climate campaigners that all renewable electricity used to produce green hydrogen would be new.
It also introduces a “transitional phase” for first movers, as green hydrogen projects that come into operation before the end of 2027 will be exempt from the additionality rule until 1 January 2038.
But perhaps the bigger question was how to proceed at times when the wind wasn’t blowing and the sun wasn’t shining. Could producers use grid electricity — which may have been produced using gas- or coal-fired generation — during these periods and then supply equivalent amounts of renewable energy back to the grid at a later date in order to compensate? And under what circumstances would this be allowed?
After all, the more hours an electrolyser is in use, the cheaper the levelised cost of the hydrogen produced.
The European Commission stated in an earlier draft of the Delegated Act last year that it would require an hourly correlation between renewable electricity supply and usage — in other words, producers must prove every hour that the power being used by their electrolysers came from new renewable source, thus making it extremely difficult to use grid electricity.
The European Commission has reached a compromise between the two positions — monthly correlation will be allowed until 31 December 2029, and thereafter only hourly correlation will be acceptable.
However, a review will be carried out in 2028 on the introduction of hourly correlation, so it might never happen.
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