Cross-border trading of renewable gases will support the decarbonisation of the gas sector in the path towards a climate-neutral Europe
The Final Conference of the EU-funded project REGATRACE was held last week with great success. Over 100 participants and 20 speakers gathered in Brussels on 16 November 2022 to discuss the latest developments to boost biomethane trading across Europe. Cross-border trading of biomethane will be essential to ensure the EU can deliver 35 bcm of biomethane by 2030.
The scale-up of biomethane production to 35 bcm by 2030 proposed by the REPowerEU will support the European Union in the achievement of climate goals and energy security alike. Cross-border trading of biomethane and other renewable gases will underpin the decarbonisation of the gas sector in the path towards a climate-neutral Europe. In May 2022, REGATRACE was considered, within the REPowerEU Plan, one of the reference projects on innovative solutions and research on barriers to and integration of sustainable biomethane to the gas grid.
Regulatory, technical and economic barriers today prevent or hinder the emergence of a biomethane market in many EU countries. The conference tackled the importance to recognise the green value of biomethane in all countries to facilitate biomethane trade across national borders. The ERGaR Certificates of Origin (CoO) Scheme and the AIB EECS Gas Scheme provide the technical requirements for cross-border transfers of biomethane. The ERGaR CoO Scheme has been facilitating the cross-border trade of biomethane since 2021 and is operated by the European Renewable Gas Registry. Between end-2021 and mid-2022, the amount of biomethane transferred via the ERGaR CoO Scheme increased from 30 GWh to 159 GWh.
Since the REGATRACE project started in June 2019, it has contributed to create an efficient trade system based on issuing and trading renewable gases Guarantees of Origin, including biomethane. This is essential to provide certainty and information on where, when and how the renewable gas is produced, renewable gas certificates give confidence in the green gas sector, encourage gas producers to inject green gas into the grid, and allow for biomethane producers to sell the gas to all EU member states.
“REGATRACE has paved the way for integrated solutions towards a common European market for biomethane and other renewable gases. National and EU policymakers must engage in an open dialogue with the biomethane industry to set-up one central registry that operates as a trustworthy platform for renewable gas certificates”, states Stefano Proietti, Project Coordinator of REGATRACE.
