ORLEN’s position on delegated regulation on low carbon fuels

The delegated act introduces:

1) Rules for calculating greenhouse gas emission reductions for low carbon fuels and their fossil fuel equivalents;

2) Certification rules for low carbon fuels that are aligned with the certification framework for renewable fuels.

The final version of the delegated act is now being developed, following a public consultation by the European Commission.

The draft as proposed by the Commission envisages:

• When taking into account fuel as a mix of low-carbon fuels and other fuels, the emission intensity shall be set at the same level for different fuels.
• Defining a carbon intensity factor based solely on the country/bidding zone level.
• Lack of ability to count individual emissivity of power sources for low-carbon hydrogen production on PPA from sources other than RES.
• Calculating GHG emission intensity for low-carbon fuels as an average for all fuel production over a period of maximum one calendar month.
• Allowing accounting of project specific emissions for methane until a methane emission intensity factor is established in accordance with Article 29(4) of the Methane Regulation.

Key points from ORLEN on the draft delegated act:

• The need to differentiate GHG emission intensity levels for the fuel mix taking into account different production technologies. A technology-neutral approach is necessary given that different technologies have different products and thus different carbon intensity levels.
• Enabling the calculation of source-specific carbon performance for the production of low-carbon fuels in power purchase agreements (PPAs) from sources other than RES.
• Defining an emission intensity factor at Member State/bidding zone level is contrary to technological neutrality and is discriminatory for regions with energy mix historically skewed towards fossil fuels. It must be possible to calculate the factor on a source-by-source basis.

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