Research

Renewable gas and natural gas regulation in Germany, Denmark, Austria, Italy, and Netherlands

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Abstract

This document aims to analyse the status of green gas regulation in the partner countries of the Super P2G project and compare to the natural gas regulation. The information in this report is derived from a questionnaire that the project partners have answered, and is attached as appendix A. The coverage for hydrogen regulation is limited mainly because it is almost not in effect yet. This is due to hydrogen still being an emerging topic for regulating authorities, and the EU-level regulations and categorization of different hydrogen generation pathways is not there yet. The regulation on electricity and power markets is affecting input costs for hydrogen and renewable gas production and therefore this is included in the document. We divide this document into two parts. In the first part we offer a brief description over the natural gas markets and regulation of the respective partner countries, and the support mechanisms they have been using in order to incentivize renewable gas production in their countries. This is important since the regulation of natural gas use including taxation issues widely impact the competitiveness of green gases and hydrogen. Additionally, we look into the current hydrogen market and the regulatory framework hydrogen is affected by in the partner countries. This might differ strongly amongst member states, depending on the industry intensity and the de-carbonization path the national policy makers have decided for. In the second part, we examine the power to gas (P2G) value chain, starting from power consumption by the electrolyser, and ending at the injection of the end-product of the power to gas process (biomethane or hydrogen) into the national gas grid. Here the importance relates to the regulation affecting the input costs of green gas and hydrogen production. This document aims to describe important regulatory issues and enable the evaluation of the current development of hydrogen and P2G regulation within a limited number of European Member states, and the possible development of a more harmonized framework that could enable the inclusion of hydrogen in the EU-level trade for energy carriers and support an efficient allocation of both hydrogen production and consumption.