The European Commission yesterday presented a complementary delegated act to decarbonise the economy. It includes, additional regulation on the gas market and nuclear energy, the Commission informed. The new regulation would, after approval by the European Parliament and the Council, apply from January 2023.
‘The aim is to accelerate the transformation by using all possible solutions to support our climate goals. Taking into account scientific advice and current technological advances, the Commission believes that private investment in natural gas and nuclear activities plays an important role. Selected gas activities. earth and nuclear energy are in line with the EU’s climate and environmental objectives and will allow us to accelerate the shift from more polluting activities – such as generating electricity from coal – towards a more climate-neutral future, based primarily on renewable energy sources, stated European Commission.
The delegated act presented by the Commission on climate change:
– supplements the EU sustainability taxonomy with additional economic activities in the energy sector.
– introduces specific disclosure requirements for enterprises related to their activities in the gas and nuclear energy sectors.
The model for reducing emissions, prepared by the Commission, and relating to paths consistent with the Paris Agreement, assumes that natural gas will account for 22% of gross domestic energy consumption in 2030 and 9% in 2050.
According to the new regulation prepared by the Commission, any new gas-based power / heating plant (or refurbished CHP or CHP) should be below the emission threshold of 100g CO2 / kWh over the life cycle or meet a number of strict conditions and obtain a building permit by 2030 r. Importantly, the use of gas should replace plants that run on more polluting solid and liquid fossil fuels (eg coal).
As regards heat and electricity cogeneration and heating / cooling activities, for any new natural gas-fired power plant to be built, a coal-fired power plant of the same capacity must be removed to meet the technical selection criteria.
As far as energy production is concerned, the capacity of a gas-fired power plant must not exceed that of a coal-fired power plant by more than 15%. Facilities must integrate a rapid transition to renewable energy sources with a clear commitment to a full transition to renewable or low carbon energy sources by 31 December 2035.
The European Commission indicated in the delegated act that nuclear energy is a low-carbon energy source. Following scientific advice, it concluded that nuclear energy, subject to stringent safety and environmental conditions (including waste disposal) that respects the rules, does not cause significant harm, may play a role in the transition to climate neutrality in line with the European Green Deal.
Nuclear energy generates relatively little waste compared to the large amount of heat and / or electricity produced. It mainly produces low-level radioactive waste, for which repositories have been in operation for decades, while high-level radioactive waste accounts for 1% of all nuclear waste.
The EU regulatory framework establishes a legal requirement for national policies to keep the generation of radioactive waste to a minimum.
In particular, low-activity waste facilities should be operational and Member States should have a detailed plan for the commissioning of a high-activity radioactive waste facility by 2050. The export of radioactive waste for disposal in third countries is prohibited.
More specifically, this complementary climate delegated act covers the following actions:
Activities related to nuclear energy:
– Advanced technologies with a closed fuel cycle (“Generation IV”) to encourage research and innovation in future technologies in terms of safety standards and waste minimization (no sunset clause);
– New nuclear power generation projects that use the best available existing technology (“Generation III +”) will be eligible until 2045 (building permit date);
– Modifications and upgrades to existing nuclear installations to extend the service life will be accepted until 2040 (date of approval by the competent authority)
Gas activities:
– Generation of electricity from fossil gas fuels
– High-efficiency cogeneration of heat / cold and energy from fossil gaseous fuels Production of heat / cold from fossil gaseous fuels in an efficient heating and cooling system
Each gas-related activity must meet one of the following emission thresholds:
– life cycle emissions below 100gCO2e / kWh or
– by 2030 (date of obtaining the building permit), and in the case of unavailability of renewable energy on a sufficient scale, direct emissions are below 270gCO2e / kWh or, in the case of activities related to electricity generation, their annual direct GHG emissions may not exceed 550kgCO2e on average / kW of facility power for 20 years. In this case, the activity has to fulfill a number of cumulative conditions: e.g. it replaces a plant that uses solid or liquid fossil fuels, the activity ensures a full transition to renewable or low carbon gases by 2035 and regular independent verification of compliance with the criteria.
The Commission expects the delegated act to enter into force from 1 January 2023.
The European Parliament and the Council (which delegated the Commission to adopt delegated acts under the Regulation) will have four months to examine the document and, if appropriate, to object to it.
They may also request an additional two months for the inspection to be carried out. The Council will have the right to object to an act by enhanced qualified majority, meaning that at least 72% of the Member States – i.e. at least 20 Member States – representing at least 65% of the EU population must object to a delegated act.
The European Parliament may object if a majority (ie 353) of Members in plenary votes against.
Source: European Commission and ISBnews
