Commission adopts long-awaited rules for renewable hydrogen

Article summary

The European Commission has published final versions of two delegated acts under Article 27(3) of Directive 2018/2001, the recast Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), setting out their proposed rules for the definition of what constitutes 'renewable' hydrogen in the EU. The first Delegated Act defines when hydrogen, hydrogen-based fuels or other energy carriers can be considered renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs), clarifies the principle of ‘additionality’ and sets out how producers can demonstrate how the relevant renewable electricity complies with additionality rules. The second Delegated Act clarifies how to calculate life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions for RFNBOs. The second Delegated Act also provides that greenhouse gas emissions savings from recycled carbon fuels use shall be at least 70%, compared to the fuels they are replacing.