C 80/14
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
3.3.2023
For measures contributing to the security of energy supply, Member States are also invited to pay attention to the cybersecurity dimension of projects, to minimise, as much as possible, potential risks of energy disruptions.
(b)
boosting energy efficiency in buildings and critical energy infrastructure, decarbonising industry, increasing production and uptake of sustainable biomethane, renewable or fossil-free hydrogen and increasing the share and accelerating the deployment of renewable energy 1) This includes measures such as energy efficiency renovations of buildings, including energy efficiency improvement measures or integration of renewable energy sources, or decarbonisation of heating and cooling systems, or energy efficiency measures in efficient district heating and cooling systems, or cost-effective energy efficient improvements for enterprises, namely those to implement the recommendations resulting from energy audits.
Such measures would reduce fossil fuel reliance and support the deployment of renewable energy.
The objective would for instance be met by: — providing support to renovation and technologies improving the energy performance of buildings by, for instance, at least 30 % on average (with a preferential access for worst performing buildings and low-income households); — decarbonisation of heating and cooling systems to become efficient, such as heat pump (including hybrid heat pumps), highly energy efficient and renewable district heating and cooling, photovoltaic (PV), energy storage for on-site renewable energy, smart thermostats, etc. — deploying specific financial instruments or contributing to the InvestEU guarantee to support investments in energy renovation of buildings (such as building retrofits of the worst performing residential and nonresidential buildings, decarbonisation of heating systems and installation of renewable energy sources on-site); — establishing national or regional technical assistance facilities supporting the development of a large pipeline of financially sound energy efficiency and building renovation projects attracting private investors; — establishing or strengthening existing Energy Efficiency National Funds with dedicated financial instruments for energy efficiency and building renovation; — update of construction- and buildings-related legislation to require new construction and renovations to be more energy efficient; — legislative measures requiring a mandatory installation of smart energy meters in buildings; 2) The objective to decarbonise industry is covered more specifically in the box below.
3) The objective to support the deployment of sustainable biomethane and hydrogen relates to investments to increase the production capacity and use of sustainable biomethane, (including connections to allow its blending in the gas infrastructure) and to increase the production capacity of renewable hydrogen (8) (including the increase in the corresponding renewable energy generation capacity necessary for the production of renewable hydrogen).
The objectives also relates to investment in fossil-free hydrogen (9) production capacity and dedicated hydrogen infrastructure, including pipelines, storage, and port terminals.
Corresponding reforms could consist in incentives for investments in production or use of sustainable biomethane and biogas (quotas, contract for differences) or reforms devising an appropriate legislative framework and regulatory regimes for renewable or fossil-free hydrogen production, use, transportation, and storage, with a focus on difficult to decarbonise sectors, in accordance with the EU hydrogen strategy.
(8) Renewable hydrogen means hydrogen produced from renewable energy in accordance with the methodologies set out for renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin in Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and related implementing and delegated acts.
(9) 9 For fossil-free hydrogen, please refer to the Temporary Crisis Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy following the aggression against Ukraine by Russia (2022/C 426/01) as a reference point.
Under the objective on the production and uptake of renewable and fossil-free hydrogen, hydrogen produced via gas pyrolysis or steam methane reforming with carbon capture and storage cannot be supported.