In late 2023, the European Commission published the revision of European Renewable Energy Directive (EU) 2023/2413 (RED III). Among other things, RED III requires member states to maintain a system for issuing Guarantees of Origin (GOs) for:
- gas (including hydrogen) from renewable sources;
- electricity from renewable sources; and
- thermal energy from renewable sources.
To this end, the RED III amends the existing Directive, namely (EU) 2018/2001, and must now be implemented in national legislation within the European Union, including in the Netherlands.
One of the important changes in the RED III concerns the establishment of a Union Data Base (UDB). This UDB aims to harmonise in particular the demonstrability of the use of renewable raw materials for the production of renewable gases within Europe.
At the moment, it is far from clear what the impact of this UDB will be on the current GO system, but on the basis of initial explorations, VertiCer notes that the arrival of the UDB could potentially affect the issuance, trading and cancelling of GvOs used for transport purposes, the statistics of which are used to determine national results in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Because we as VertiCer have an important role, also in European terms, in the certification of renewable energy, we have established, in close consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs, that it is very important that VertiCer is set up in time to manage the consequences of the arrival of the UDB.
This means that we are currently orienting ourselves to the possible consequences of the UDB and, where we can already do so, preparing for the consequences. One of these is the possibility of VertiCer, as supplier of required data for the UDB, being designated as the National Data Base (NDB) that delivers the required data from the Dutch market to the UDB. We are already in talks with EZK about this.
Although much is still unclear, we as VertiCer believe we can continue to serve the market best by being transparent in our actions. This includes responding adequately to changes in laws and regulations and ensuring that sufficient information is available in time to inform our stakeholders and keep our organisation agile.
Together towards a new future. We will keep you informed.
Should you have any questions after reading this post, please feel free to contact us at our Servicedesk, [email protected].
