EU recognizes three voluntary certification schemes for renewable hydrogen

The European Union has for the first time formally recognized voluntary renewable fuels of non-biological origin certification systems, the EU said Dec. 20.

The three voluntary certification systems to receive recognition are operated by REDcert, ISCC and CertifHY, the EU said in its official journal. The decision was reached Dec. 19, the EU said.

The formal recognition is expected to allow for auditing and certifying of certified production plants to issue Proof of Sustainability certificates for hydrogen production. Until the EU's move, the three schemes have only been able to provide provisional certification of the origins of energy used to produce hydrogen and its carbon footprint.

The official approval was not unexpected. The voluntary certification systems operated by three companies had all received positive technical assessments from the European Commission in the third quarter. In fact, CertifHY in November had informed market participants during the EU Hydrogen Week conference in Brussels that it had expected the EU to complete the process of recognizing the voluntary certification schemes in early 2025.

Germany's Umweltbundesamt environment agency, or UBA, earlier in December informed the three companies it would begin the process of officially recognizing the RFNBO certification schemes before formal EU recognition was granted. This process is likely to be slowed to ensure interoperability between the wider EU and national German certification recognition.

European hydrogen producers previously told S&P Global Commodity Insights that the recognition of the certification scheme would permit producers to take advantage of national RFNBO production incentives, such as Germany's THG Quota scheme. Domestic German RFNBO producers will be able to apply for credits under the scheme, which offers a bonus of Eur3/kg of RFNBO hydrogen.