Currently it’s raining whitepapers on regulation of hydrogen and power-to-gas…

While ACER and CEER have published their whitepaper on regulation of hydrogen networks just a view days ago, the series has just been complemented with the newly published whitepaper Regulatory Treatment of Power-to-Gas.

With the aim is to deepen understanding on the regulatory aspects of Green Deal issues and to assist the European Commission in assessing various options as part of the preparations for legislation on hydrogen and energy system integration, the white paper provides the the following 7 recommendations on regulating power-to-gas facilities:

1.  Revisit the current set of definitions for major activities in the context of integrated gas and electricity sectors
2. Consider investment and management of power-to-gas installations as market-based activities which are open to competition among market players
3. Allow involvement of system operators in the development and operation of power-to-gas installations only in exceptional cases
4.  Include power-to-gas installations and their suitable locations in system needs analysis
5.  Define cost-reflective network tariffs, which should be applied to comparable activities across the electricity and gas sectors in a technologically-neutral way
6.  Avoid distortive effects of taxes and levies on the integrated energy system
7.  Ensure traceability of renewable energy throughout the integrated energy system

Please allow me a personal note: I have intensively contributed to both of these whitepapers. Actually, I have to admit that it took quite an efforts to come for the one or other point to a common ground or that it would have had merits to elaborate further on some critical aspects. Especially revisiting the current set of definitions for major activities in the gas and electricity sectors is in my view an integrally important prerequisite for energy system integration. Only if the ‘traditional silo thinking’ can be overcome and comparable activities (incl. storage, conversion, etc.) are treated in a similar and technology-neutral way in the context of tariffs, taxes, levies, etc. the desired ‘whole energy system’ may evolve. This will require further and detailed elaboration.

Nonetheless, I do believe that it represents a valuable and important contribution to the ongoing policy debate. Happy to hear views.