The Council of Ministers, at the request of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO), has approved a Royal Decree that creates the system of guarantees of origin for renewable gases, such as renewable hydrogen, biogas or biomethane, which will allow marketers and consumers to differentiate them from gas of fossil origin.
The norm also incorporates into the domestic legal system the sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions reduction criteria of community regulations for solid biomass and biogas, biofuels and bioliquids for transport, electrical uses, heating and cooling, as well as the penetration objectives of biofuels from 2023, which They should reach 12% of consumption in 2026.
The Royal Decree will create a Census of Gas Production Facilities from renewable sources and a Producers Committee. Producers and marketers will be able to exchange guarantees of origin transparently and securely within the system, which will document the production, transfer and cancellation of guarantees of origin. The guarantees of origin will certify the volume of gas and its quality, since it will differentiate between hydrogen obtained with renewable energy, biomethane, biogas or other gases, and will cover any renewable gas produced and consumed, whether on site, self-consumed, and injected or not to the gas pipeline network.
The Royal Decree partially transposes Directive 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council, relating to the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, with regard to the sustainability criteria and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from bioenergy and to guarantees of origin of gas from renewable sources.
Thanks to the new guarantees of origin – similar to those already existing for electricity produced with renewables – each MWh of 100% renewable gas will lead to the issuance of a guarantee of origin with information on where, when and how the gas was produced. Consequently, the guarantees will provide added value when marketing it that will encourage its consumption, with the consequent environmental benefit.
The creation of this system of guarantees of origin was foreseen in several indicative planning tools, such as the National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 (PNIEC), the Hydrogen Roadmap and the Biogas Roadmap, as well as in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
Royal Decree 376/2022: https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2022/05/18/pdfs/BOE-A-2022-8121.pdf
