#regulation - Archives - Energy Regulation Solutions

Tax incentives to promote clean technologies

On 10 October, the Council of the European Union approved conclusions on the use of tax incentives to promote clean technologies and industry, supporting the implementation of the Clean Industrial Deal (CID).

➡️ The conclusions is available via this link.

The conclusions respond to the European Commission’s Recommendation of 2 July 2025, which outlined how Member States can use fiscal tools such as targeted tax credits and accelerated depreciation to boost investment in clean technologies and industrial decarbonisation.

✅ Key elements of the Council conclusions:

📌 Welcome the the Commission recommendation on tax incentives to support the Clean Industrial Deal and in light of the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework.

📌 Emphasise that tax incentives should remain simple, effective, and adapted to diverse national tax systems.

📌 Highlight the importance of flexibility and Member State discretion in designing and applying incentives, given budgetary realities.

📌 Encourage evaluation and exchange of best practices across Member States to ensure effective implementation.

☑️ Why this matters:

Tax incentives can become a cornerstone of Europe’s industrial transformation, helping to:

Stimulate private investment in decarbonisation and clean manufacturing;
Improve cash flow for businesses investing in energy efficiency and renewables;
Strengthen the EU’s industrial base while supporting the 2050 climate neutrality goal.

By aligning tax policy with the Clean Industrial Deal and State aid rules, the EU is laying the groundwork for a coherent fiscal framework that empowers industries to lead the clean transition cost-effectively and competitively.

Posted By : admin 11 Oct, 2025

Preparatory process for the 2026 bidding round of Carbon Contracts for Difference

📢 Germany launches preparatory process for the 2026 bidding round of Carbon Contracts for Difference (Klimaschutzverträge)

On 6 October, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) initiated the preparatory phase for the 2026 bidding round of CO2-Differenzverträge (Carbon Contracts for Difference, CCfDs). Carbon Contracts for Difference are one of the key funding instruments supporting the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries.

✅ Main purposes of the CCfDs:

📌 CCfDs protect companies investing in low-carbon production processes against price risks. Fluctuations in CO2 and energy prices, as well as cost differences compared to conventional production processes, are compensated over a period of 15 years.

📌 The contracts also aim to accelerate the market ramp-up of new technologies (e.g. industrial heat pumps, hydrogen applications, CO2 capture and storage, and energy storage technologies) and to help establish innovative production processes on the market.

☑️ Eligibility requirements:

📌 Companies are free to decide how to convert their production processes in line with the energy sources used (electricity, low-carbon hydrogen, biomass).

📌 The only requirements are milestones for CO2 savings: 60% from the third year and 90% in the final year of the contract term.

📌 Companies are remunerated based on the actual CO2 savings achieved.

📌 The CCfDs are also open to small and medium-sized enterprises with smaller production facilities.

📅 Schedule:

Participation in the preparatory phase until 1 December 2025 is required for companies wishing to submit bids in 2026.

⚠️ The bidding process remains subject to budgetary approval and state aid clearance by the European Commission.

📘 More information and documentation on the preparatory process are available at https://www.klimaschutzvertraege.info/

➡️ Source: BMWE startet vorbereitendes Verfahren für das Gebotsverfahren 2026 der CO₂-Differenzverträge (Klimaschutzverträge)

Posted By : admin 10 Oct, 2025

World Hydrogen Week

How will regulation, standardisation, and certification work together?

This question we discussed 09.10.2025 during the World Hydrogen Week in Copenhagen, organised by World Hydrogen Leaders.

Under the chair of Kim Talus and the moderation of Ulrike Hinz, together with Régis Prévost and Mohit Agrawal, we explored how standards and regulation interact in the production of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives.

This topic is also part of my ongoing research at the University of Eastern Finland. Building on my previous studies, I shared several key points during the discussion:

📌 Different purposes: Regulations aim primarily at achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets, while standards focus on ensuring safety and technical compatibility.

📌 Different approaches to blending: Regulations allow flexibility through book & claim or mass balance systems, whereas standards typically apply only to physical blending.

📌 Different consequences for non-compliance: Under regulatory frameworks, penalties or GHG payments may apply, while under technical standards, non-compliance simply means the fuel cannot be used.

It was a truly insightful exchange on how these frameworks can and must align to support the development of a global hydrogen economy.

Posted By : admin 6 Oct, 2025

Public consultation on CO2 markets and infrastructure in the EU

On 6 October, the European Commission launched an open public consultation on upcoming legislation and impact assessment for CO2 markets and infrastructure.

To meet the EU’s climate neutrality target by 2050, industrial carbon management (ICM) will play a crucial role alongside renewable energy and energy efficiency. Building on the Industrial Carbon Management Strategy, adopted in February 2024, the European Commission has now launched a public consultation on an upcoming legislative initiative for CO2 markets and infrastructure.

🗓️ The consultation is open until 9 January 2026.

➡️ Participate before 9 January 2026: Legislative initiative on CO2 transportation infrastructure and markets

ICM is essential to address hard-to-abate industrial emissions and to maintain a competitive, decarbonised industrial base in the EU. However, the CO2 value chain is still in its early stages. Limited infrastructure, regulatory fragmentation, and investment risks are slowing progress.

The upcoming legislative proposal aims to create a well-functioning, competitive, and integrated EU CO2 market, ensuring that captured CO2 can be safely and efficiently transported, stored, or utilised across borders.

✅ Key topics covered in the consultation include:

📌 Regulatory framework design, ensuring investor confidence, flexibility, and long-term predictability.

📌 Cross-border CO2 transport, removing barriers linked to international treaties and aligning with neighboring countries.

📌 Infrastructure planning and permitting, improving coherence and speeding up authorisations under TEN-E, NZIA, and the CCS Directive.

📌 Market access and third-party rules – defining access rights, financing models, and governance structures for CO2 networks.

📌 CO2 quality standards, supporting the development of common European standards to enable interoperability and avoid market fragmentation.

This initiative is expected to become a cornerstone of the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal, providing the regulatory and financial foundations for scaling up industrial carbon management technologies.

Posted By : admin 3 Oct, 2025

Defossilizing Industry: Considerations for Scaling-up Carbon Capture and Utilization Pathways

Figure: Global distribution of CCU-relevant policy frameworks

Source: Wood Mackenzie Lens Carbon

The World Economic Forum has just published its white paper: “Defossilizing Industry: Considerations for Scaling-up Carbon Capture and Utilization Pathways”.

✅ The report highlights key challenges for Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) policy framework:

📌 The global CCU policy landscape remains fragmented, inconsistent, and often conflicting.

📌 Sequestration is prioritized over reuse, while the lack of an effective global carbon price undermines wider deployment of capture technologies.

📌 These gaps create uncertainty for innovators and reduce policy credibility for investors.

📌 Current frameworks are regionally specific, leading to concentrated initiatives in certain jurisdictions and heightening risks from policy instability.

📌 Scaling CCU requires a more coordinated, credible, and globally consistent policy environment to unlock its full potential for industrial decarbonization.

➡️ Source: World Economic Forum. Defossilizing Industry: Considerations for Scaling-up Carbon Capture and Utilization Pathways. White Paper. September 2025

Posted By : admin 1 Oct, 2025

Updates to the Hydrogen Acceleration Act

Bundesregierung beschließt Entwurf für Wasserstoff-Beschleunigungsgesetz

On October 1, 2025, the Federal Cabinet adopted the draft Hydrogen Acceleration Act to speed up the development of hydrogen infrastructure and reduce bureaucratic hurdles.

✅ Key highlights:

📌 Covers the entire hydrogen supply chain: production, import, storage, transport, and pipelines.

📌 Includes facilities for synthetic fuels to decarbonize shipping & aviation.

📌 Declares hydrogen infrastructure projects as overriding public interest, ensuring higher priority in approval decisions.

📌 Introduces clear deadlines, digitalized processes, and faster procurement.

📌 Simplifies regulations for natural hydrogen through amendments to the Federal Mining Act.

☑️ What next:

The Bundesrat and Bundestag will deal with the draft law.

➡️ Full draft law available here: Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Beschleunigung der Verfügbarkeit von Wasserstoff und zur Änderung weiterer rechtlicher Rahmenbedingungen für den Wasserstoffhochlauf und weiterer energierechtlicher Vorschriften

➡️ Source: Aufbau der Wasserstoff-Infrastruktur wird schneller, digitaler und unbürokratischer – Bundesregierung beschließt Entwurf für Wasserstoff-Beschleunigungsgesetz

Posted By : admin 28 Sep, 2025

Briefing Delegated act on low-carbon hydrogen

I dove into the European Parliamentary Research Service Briefing on the “Delegated Act on Low-carbon Hydrogen”.

✅ Key takeaways:

📌 The delegated act, adopted by the Commission on 8 July 2025, is the final missing piece of the EU’s hydrogen regulatory framework. Its was adopted by the Commission on 8 July 2025, pending scrutiny by the Parliament and the Council until 10 November.

📌 The delegated act does not create financial incentives or targets but provides much-needed regulatory clarity on what qualifies as low-carbon hydrogen, supporting cross-border trade, investment, and a future EU hydrogen market.

📌 Electrolysis via the grid is only eligible in countries with very low grid emissions (currently: France, Sweden, Finland). Elsewhere, PPAs will play a key role.

📌 Nuclear power: The delegated act does not include a specific methodology for producing low-carbon hydrogen from nuclear power plants. The Commission plans to launch a public consultation on a draft methodology for this production method in 2026.

📌 Blue hydrogen faces stricter requirements. LNG-related emissions must be calculated using a methane-intensity methodology by 2027/28, raising uncertainty.

📌 Production costs: CCS-based hydrogen remains cheaper in the near term, while electrolytic hydrogen is still challenged by high EU power prices.

📌 Imports: The same low-carbon criteria apply to non-EU producers; a region-specific GHG methodology could follow by 2028.

⚠️ Parliament had already stressed in 2021 that low-carbon hydrogen must be seen as a bridging technology in the short and medium term, but also called for a clear distinction from renewable hydrogen.

The upcoming months will show whether Parliament and Council accept this final building block of EU hydrogen regulation or send the Commission back to the drawing board.

➡️ Source: European Parliamentary Research Service. Briefing: Delegated act on low-carbon hydrogen

Posted By : admin 26 Sep, 2025

Global Tales of Carbon Transition

Excited to share that I will be joining the Global Tales of Carbon Transition podcast on 9 October 2025!

Together with the hosts Jaqueline Pinto, Erik Rakhou, Joachim von Scheele and Oghosa Erhahon, we’ll dive into the latest developments in the hydrogen regulation.

A big thank you to the GTCT team and World Hydrogen Leaders for providing the stage for these important discussions.

🎙️ The episode will stream live on YouTube and later be available on Spotify and other platforms.

Looking forward to the conversation and to sharing insights!

Posted By : admin 13 Sep, 2025

Methodology for assessing greenhouse gas emissions savings from low-carbon fuels

This report, prepared at the request of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research
and Energy (ITRE) reviews the draft Delegated Act (DA) on low-carbon fuels and addresses following questions:

🔹 Which production pathways are included?

The DA applies a technology-neutral, life-cycle approach.
Fuels must achieve at least a 70% reduction vs. the fossil comparator (94 gCO₂eq/MJ).
Both fossil pathways with CCS and electrolytic production routes for hydrogen production are eligible.
Nuclear-based electricity is also recognised.
Hydrogen leakage will be included once scientific consensus exists on its warming impact.

🔹 Does the DA enable the hydrogen economy?

The Delegated Act (DA) is a regulatory enabler, not a market driver.
The DA creates regulatory certainty via harmonised EU-wide accounting and certification, reducing investment risk and avoiding fragmented national rules.
The DA is not a demand-side driver, no targets or incentives are included.

🔹 Does the DA address fossil fuel emissions?

The DA incorporates methane CH₄ and CO₂ defaults but they are not strongly conservative.
LNG-specific values are missing, risking underestimation. Its effectiveness will hinge on strict enforcement and robust methane reporting.

🔹 Price & cost expectations

Blue H₂: 3.5–6.5 €/kg (costs depend on gas prices, CCS costs, and volatility).
Electrolytic H₂: 6–8 €/kg today; costs could fall <3 €/kg with cheaper electrolysers + low-carbon electricity.

➡️ Overall: The DA is an important regulatory enabler. It sets the rules for certification and trade but does not itself stimulate hydrogen demand.

➡️ Source: Report: Methodology for assessing greenhouse gas emissions savings from low-carbon fuels

Posted By : admin 10 Sep, 2025

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism simplifications

On 10 September, the European Parliament adopted simplifications to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

✅ Key Points

📌 Purpose: Reduce administrative burden, especially for SMEs and occasional importers.

📌 Context: Part of the “Omnibus I” simplification package (presented on 26 February 2025), covering sustainability and investment legislation.

📌 New de minimis threshold:

Imports up to 50 tonnes per importer per year exempted from CBAM.
Replaces the earlier exemption for goods of negligible value.
Exempts ~90% of importers (mainly SMEs and individuals).
⚠️ Not applicable to hydrogen and electricity.

📌 Climate ambition unchanged:

99% of emissions from CBAM goods (iron, steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers) still covered.
Strengthened anti-abuse provisions to prevent circumvention.

📌 Simplifications for covered imports: