09 Dec Additionality Rules to be Unveiled by mid-December

Source: http://www.euroactiv.com

The new draft of rules is to be released on 15 December according to Jens Geier, EU parliament’s lead negotiator on parts of the 2021 gas and hydrogen package, which will leave little time for consultation.

Green or renewable hydrogen is produced by means of electrolysers transforming renewable electricity into water. The idea is to provide new wind turbines and solar PV instead of exploiting the already existing ones.

The rules feature a temporal and geographical component by linking the renewable electricity production to a nearby hydrogen production, which must be located the closest possible to a wind park on 31 March 2028. Until then, the new rules discard this approach.

“Based on monthly correlation, hydrogen produced through electrolysis with electricity drawn from the grid in 2021 would have resulted in average emissions of 574 gCO2e/kWh in Germany and 1,071 gCO2e/kWh in Poland,” explained Matthias Buck, Europe director at the German think-tank Agora Energiewende in a recent op-ed for Euractiv.

The geographical proximity will similarly be affected by the new draft. In principle, it will suffice if the wind/solar park is in the same binding zone as the hydrogen production plant.