UFE’s reply to the public consultation of the European Commission on the Gas Package

UFE welcomes the Commission’s intention to revise the EU Gas Regulation and Directive to align them with the decarbonisation agenda, and would like to highlight the following. More specific definitions of renewable and low-carbon gases are needed in the Gas Directive, systematically referring to their chemical composition, origin and carbon content. A faster elaboration of the certification framework for low-carbon gases is also required. For electrolytic hydrogen, UFE recommends using a methodology based on the hourly average carbon content of the national power mix for electrolytic hydrogen. Besides, in the Gas Regulation, the creation of a separate entity dedicated to natural gas DSOs should be preferred to the enlargement of the existing EU DSO Entity. This entity would have the same duties and responsibilities as the EU DSO Entity, applied to the gas sector. Finally, when it comes to the development of a hydrogen market, local production should be prioritised, especially via the location of electrolysers close to existing centres of hydrogen demand (e.g. hard-to-abate industry).