RED III: agreement between Parliament and Council — a binding 42.5% renewables target for 2030

Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement on 30 March 2023 on the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III). The binding EU target for the share of renewables in gross final energy consumption in 2030 will be 42.5%, with an additional 2.5 percentage points as an indicative value, which allows it to reach 45%. The compromise is higher than the Council's target (40%) and lower than the position of Parliament and the Commission (45%). For the renewable gases industry, the agreement confirms their role and sets a new framework for transport, industry and certification.

What is changing

The most important elements of the agreement:

• Overall target: 42.5% binding, up to 45% with the indicative supplement.
• Transport: countries can choose a target of 29% renewables in transport or a 14.5% reduction in emission intensity by 2030; the combined share of advanced fuels and RFNBO is to be at least 5.5%, including at least 1% RFNBO.
• Industry: 42% of the hydrogen used in industry is to be RFNBO by 2030, and 60% by 2035.
• Heating and cooling: an average annual increase in the renewables share of 0.8 percentage points in 2021–2025, then 1.1 percentage points in 2026–2030
• Biomass sustainability: tightened criteria and restrictions on the harvesting of forest biomass.
• Renewable gas: extension of the Union database to gaseous fuels and improved certification and guarantees of origin.

The agreement also includes provisions shortening permitting procedures for renewable energy projects and stating that they are in the public interest.

Significance for the industry in Poland

For Poland, the higher renewables target means the need to accelerate the transformation in heating and transport, where the role of renewable gases may be significant. Biomethane is gaining importance in sectors that are hard to electrify: industrial heating, heavy-duty transport and shipping. Tightened sustainability criteria and extended fuel-tracking databases will raise the requirements for producers, but will also make biomethane more credible as a renewable fuel.

Three issues will matter in the national debate: how the sectoral targets are implemented, the simplification of procedures for biogas installations and the regulation of a support system. Poland must decide whether to choose the option of a 29% renewables target in transport or a 14.5% emission reduction.

Where biomethane gains and where it loses

The gain is a clear role for renewable gases in heating, transport and industry and higher targets for advanced fuels, which include biogas from waste and residues. The limitations concern feedstocks: tightened criteria for biomass and a ban on counting certain feedstocks from food crops reduce the room for manoeuvre of biogas plants based on energy crops. The details of Annex IX to the directive, which sets the list of feedstocks eligible for the advanced targets, will be key.

What next

The agreement requires formal approval by Parliament and the Council. Once it is adopted, Member States will have about 18 months for transposition. The biogas industry should take an active part in national consultations so that the rules on biomethane, certification and connection are prepared in parallel.