Based on the initial political agreement achieved on 23 March on the FuelEU Maritime, the onus is put on maritime operators to use renewable fuels, without any corresponding obligation on the supply side. On March 28th, ESCA and CLIA issued a statement emphasizing that the supply of renewable and low carbon fuels to the maritime sector barely exists in Europe.
In advance of the final round of negotiations on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) on 29 March, the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) and the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) called upon the European Institutions to ensure that a binding target is adopted for the supply of renewable and scalable marine fuels.
According to policy scenarios in the framework of the 2030 Climate Target Plan (CTP), renewable and low carbon fuels should represent between 6% and 9% of the international maritime transport fuel mix in 2030 and between 86% and 88% by 2050 to contribute to the EU economy wide GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions reduction targets. However today, the supply of such fuels to the maritime sector barely exists in Europe.
…their statement reads.
On March 30rd, the EU Council and Parliament reached provisional deal on renewable energy directive to agree the share of renewable energy in the EU’s overall energy consumption to 42.5% by 2030 with an additional 2.5% indicative top up that would allow to reach 45%. Each member state will contribute to this common target. This provisional political agreement will now need to be endorsed by both institutions. The Council and Parliament negotiators provisionally agreed on more ambitious sector-specific targets in transport, industry, buildings and district heating and cooling. The purpose of the sub-targets is to speed-up the integration of renewables in sectors where incorporation has been slower.
Transport
The provisional agreement gives the possibility for member states to choose between:
- a binding target of 14.5% reduction of greenhouse gas intensity in transport from the use of renewables by 2030
- or a binding target of at least 29% share of renewables within the final consumption of energy in the transport sector by 2030
The provisional agreement sets a binding combined sub-target of 5.5% for advanced biofuels (generally derived from non-food-based feedstocks) and renewable fuels of non-biological origin (mostly renewable hydrogen and hydrogen-based synthetic fuels) in the share of renewable energies supplied to the transport sector. Within this target, there is a minimum requirement of 1% of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) in the share of renewable energies supplied to the transport sector in 2030.
Industry
The provisional agreement provides that industry would increase their use of renewable energy annually by 1.6%. They agreed that 42% of the hydrogen used in industry should come from renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) by 2030 and 60% by 2035.
The agreement introduces the possibility for member states to discount the contribution of RFNBOs in industry use by 20% under two conditions:
- if the member states’ national contribution to the binding overall EU target meets their expected contribution
- the share of hydrogen from fossil fuels consumed in the member state is not more 23% in 2030 and 20% in 2035
Background
The proposal to revise the renewable energy directive, along with other proposals, tackles the energy aspects of the EU’s climate transition under the ‘Fit for 55’ package.
The Commission presented the ‘Fit for 55’ package on 14 July 2021. This package aims to align the EU’s climate and energy legislative framework with its 2050 climate neutrality objective and with its objective of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
In addition, as part of the REPowerEU plan, the Commission proposed on 18 May 2022 a series of additional targeted amendments to the renewable energy directive to reflect the recent changes in the energy landscape. The elements of the proposal were integrated into the agreement found today.
The current renewable energies directive in force since December 2018. It sets an EU-level target of 32% share of renewable energy in the total EU energy consumption by 2030 at EU level.
READ MORE ABOUT THE EU DEAL ON RENEWABLE ENERGY DIRECTIVE HERE
