Mailing sent to ship owners and verifiers about zero-rating biofuels
Shipping companies, if they meet the necessary monitoring and reporting requirements, can claim a zero-rating of CO2 emissions from sustainable biomass under the EU ETS for the biofuels they have used.
To qualify for this zero-emission claim, shipping companies must demonstrate that the biofuel complies with the monitoring and reporting procedures set out in Regulation 2015/757 (the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification Regulation, or MRV) and in Regulation 2018/2001 (the Renewable Energy Directive, or RED-II). This compliance is demonstrated through a Proof of Sustainability (PoS).
The Netherlands has implemented the RED-II using the opt-in for fuel deliveries to the maritime sector. When fuel suppliers supply sustainable fuels, they can generate renewable energy units (HBEs) if they submit a proof of sustainability (PoS) to the NEa. A PoS can only be issued once for a batch of fuels, which is why it is no longer available to a shipping company for its EU ETS reporting.
To tackle this issue and make it possible for both fuel suppliers and shipping companies to claim zero rating for sustainable fuels, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) will amend the Ministerial regulation ('Regeling handel in emissierechten'). These amendments will enable the NEa to implement a temporary measure that allows parallel claims of sustainable fuels by both fuel suppliers under the national mandate and shipping companies under the EU ETS until a European interim solution is implemented (due to delays in the development of the Union Database).
This temporary solution is intended for cases where the shipping company is unable to obtain a PoS from their fuel supplier, in case of bunkering in the Netherlands, because the fuel supplier surrenders the PoS to the Nea in order to receive HBE’s. The temporary measure is valid with retrospective effect from 1 January 2024. Once the European interim solution is implemented, this national temporary solution will be withdrawn. The amendments to the Ministerial regulation are not in force yet, but the aim is that they will be in the short term.
More (practical) information can be found in the newsletters that were sent to the shipping companies and verifiers.