Lobbying by Open Grid Europe GmbH

CO-Abscheidung, -Transport, -Speicherung und -Nutzung (CCUS) sind unverzichtbare Bestandteile der EU-Klimastrategie. Die Zeit drängt: Der Aufbau einer funktionsfähigen CO-Transportinfrastruktur und -Wertschöpfungskette muss schnell erfolgen. Die Investitionsbereitschaft und konkrete Projektplanung hängen unmittelbar von einem verlässlichen finanziellen, politischen und regulatorischen Rahmen ab. Ohne klare Rechtsgrundlagen und institutionelle Unterstützung droht eine Verzögerung, die das Erreichen der Klimaziele gefährdet. Die zentrale Herausforderung: Gerade anfangs sind Transport- und Speicherinfrastrukturbetreiber dem kumulierten Risiko von Emittentenausfällen ausgesetzt, während die wirtschaftliche Tragfähigkeit stark an die Entwicklung des EU-ETS-Preises gekoppelt ist. Ein EU-Gesetzgebungsverfahren sollte ausschließlich Maßnahmen enthalten, die den zügigen Aufbau der Transportinfrastruktur ermöglichen. Zusätzliche Verwaltungs- oder Kontrollstrukturen dürfen den Hochlauf nicht verlangsamen. Frühzeitige Klarheit zu langfristigen Rahmenbedingungen ist entscheidend, um Investoren vor regulatorischen Rückschritten zu schützen .1. Abbau grenzüberschreitender Hemmnisse Standardisierung und Interoperabilität: Einheitliche technische und regulatorische Standards für den CO-Transport in der gesamten EU: Fragmentierung verhindern und grenzüberschreitende Skalierung ermöglichen, basierend auf den Ergebnissen der entsprechenden CEN-Arbeitsgruppen Internationale Kooperation: Speicherung in Drittstaaten: Vereinfachung von Genehmigungsverfahren für Transport und Speicherung in bzw. durch Nicht-EU-Staaten (z.B. Norwegen, UK), einschließlich Rechtssicherheit bei öffentlicher Förderung und Emissionsbilanzierung. 2. Klare Regeln für Marktfunktion und Netzzugang Rechtsklarheit und Transparenz: Einheitliche Regelungen zum Netzzugang und zu Eigentumsverhältnissen, um Interessenkonflikte zu vermeiden und Investitionssicherheit zu schaffen. Betreiberrollen und Pflichten müssen klar definiert werden. Genehmigungsrahmen: Harmonisierte Maximaldauern für die Dauer von Genehmigungsverfahren, insbesondere für grenzüberschreitende Projekte; Integration von Transport- und Speicherkomponenten in kohärente Verfahren. Vermeidung von Doppelprüfungen und parallelen Zuständigkeiten. Monitoring mit klarem Zweck: Schlankes, evidenzbasiertes Monitoring zur Weiterentwicklung der Notwendigkeit regulatorischer Intervention. Dies sollte gezielt auf Netzzugang, Kapazitätsauslastung, Engpässe und grenzüberschreitende Flüsse fokussieren, um rechtzeitig Anpassungen zu ermöglichen. 3. Verbesserung der Investitionsbedingungen und Koordination der Wertschöpfungskette Garantien für finanzielles De-Risking sind essenziell, um politische Risiken und ETS-Preisschwankungen abzufedern und so den Zugang zu Fremdkapital zu ermöglichen. Planbarkeit für Investoren: Schutz bestehender Verträge, gesicherte Markteintrittsbedingungen und klare Risikoallokation zwischen den Beteiligten; Anpassungen nur bei nachgewiesener Notwendigkeit. Gezielte EU-Koordination: Vorrang für projektgetriebene, dezentrale Entwicklung; zentrale EU-Planung nur dort, wo dies nachweislich Effizienzgewinne oder Synergien schafft, etwa bei gemeinsam genutzter Infrastruktur mehrerer Mitgliedstaaten. Synergien mit bestehenden Energie- und Industrieinfrastrukturen sollten aktiv geprüft und genutzt werden. Priorität Geschwindigkeit: Prüfung jeder regulatorischen Maßnahme auf ihren Einfluss auf Umsetzungsgeschwindigkeit und Investitionsbereitschaft; zusätzliche institutionelle Ebenen, die nicht direkt zur Beschleunigung beitragen, sind zu vermeiden. Ein klar definierter, effizienter Entscheidungsweg auf EU- und nationaler Ebene ist Voraussetzung für die Realisierung von Projekten im benötigten Zeitrahmen. Im Anhang befindet sich weiterhin ein offener Brief der NEN im Namen des CEN/TC 474 zu technischen Rahmenbedingungen der Standardisierung von CO2 im Pipelinetransport.

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Meeting with Jens Geier (Member of the European Parliament)

15 Jul 2025 · Exchange on Grid Action Plan and Delgeated Act on Low Carbon Hydrogen

Meeting with Teresa Ribera Rodríguez (Executive Vice-President) and

24 Jun 2025 · Hydrogen Infrastructure Development

Meeting with Jens Geier (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Feb 2025 · Exchange on follow up initiatives of the Gasmarket Package

Meeting with Kadri Simson (Commissioner) and

9 Jan 2024 · Meeting with CCS Europe members on CCS strategy.

Meeting with Jens Geier (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

14 Dec 2023 · Exchange on the gas market directive

Meeting with Jens Geier (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Verband Kommunaler Unternehmen e.V.

26 Oct 2023 · Exchange on the gas market directive

Meeting with Jens Geier (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and GASCADE Gastransport GmbH

13 Oct 2023 · Exchange on the gas market directive

Response to Interservice consultation on the electricity market design reform - REMIT

11 May 2023

Dear Sir or Madam, Please find the attached position of Open Grid Europe GmbH in the consultation of REMIT. Open Grid Europe GmbH completely endorses the position of FNB Gas e. V. in the consultation on the European Commissions proposal for amending Regulations (EU) No 1227/2011 and 2019/942 and fully supports all proposals made therein. Best regards Open Grid Europe

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Meeting with Jens Geier (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

28 Apr 2023 · Exchange on gas market directive

Meeting with Jens Geier (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

13 Apr 2023 · Exchange on the gas package (staff level)

Meeting with Stefano Grassi (Cabinet of Commissioner Kadri Simson)

12 Apr 2023 · Hydrogen and gas decarbonisation package

Meeting with Terry Reintke (Member of the European Parliament) and thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG and

23 Feb 2023 · Austausch mit Vertretern NRW Wirtschaft

Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament)

31 Jan 2023 · Hydrogen infrastructure in Europe

Meeting with Tiemo Wölken (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Jul 2022 · Gasversorgung und Wasserstoff

Response to Revision of EU rules on Gas

12 Apr 2022

OGE is one of the leading European Transmission System Operators (TSO) for gas with a pipeline network of approx. 12.000 km and is a frontrunner in building a future hydrogen backbone in Germany and Europe. We are fully committed to the European Green Deal and want to contribute to decarbonising the European economy by making use of our infrastructure in a sustainable and secure way. We welcome the aim of the Commission to establish a future-proof regulatory framework for hydrogen infrastructure and the hydrogen market and agree that it is sensible to build upon the achievements reached in the gas and electricity sectors over the last decades. The war in Ukraine and the subsequent political consequences have further increased the necessity to accelerate the energy transition and the ramp-up of the hydrogen infrastructure specifically. This can only be achieved if dogmatism is thrown overboard and instead pragmatic and goal-oriented solutions are found that enable companies to make large-scale investments very soon. The EU energy transition can only succeed if the affordability of energy is guaranteed for consumers and thus positive acceptance of the change is created. The aim of the regulatory framework must therefore be to avoid prohibitively high tariffs and to enable their predictability. This needs to be guaranteed both in the ramp-up phase of the hydrogen market and in the phase of falling natural gas demand. Many of today's natural gas consumers will be tomorrow's hydrogen consumers. A mutualisation of costs between natural gas and hydrogen customers is therefore essential and sensible for a successful energy transition. A uniform tariff for natural gas and hydrogen and preferably a common regulated asset base is the most efficient form of justified mutualisation of cost bearing. The concept of “dedicated charges” as proposed by the Commission to allow a certain degree of cost mutualisation is complex, contains many open questions and must first be implemented by the Member State, leading to uncertainty for today’s investors. If it is to prevail, it needs to be amended significantly. In particular, the obligations of the ACER recommendations on asset transfers, the scope and duration of the financial transfers and the dedicated charge must be designed so flexibly that the different speeds of market ramp-up in Europe and the special features and possibly already existing regulations in the individual member states can be considered. To avoid any obstacles in the fast ramp-up, it is mandatory that there is no ex-ante time limit on financial transfers. With regards to network tariffs, the Commission is proposing a mandatory introduction of regulated network tariffs for hydrogen based on the principles applicable to natural gas from 2031 at the latest. However, deviating from the regulations for natural gas, no tariffs may be charged at interconnection points between Member States. According to the Commission's proposal, costs would arise for transits within the EU, but no tariffs should be charged for them. Especially since it is to be expected that not all EU countries will become equally H2 sources and sinks, efficient expansion signals for the cross-border transport infrastructure are necessary. For this reason, the entry and exit points at the borders between Member States should also be priced accordingly in the interests of a cost-based approach. The alternative proposed regulation of a mandatory cross-border compensation mechanism, on the other hand, leads to high levels of uncertainty for the market, regulatory authorities, network operators and investors, especially regarding the time needed for negotiation and implementation. Such a concept is furthermore not considered appropriate for a system that is characterized by constant network expansion since every commissioning requires remodeling and renegotiation between the parties involved.

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Response to Revision of EU rules on Gas

12 Apr 2022

OGE is one of the leading European Transmission System Operators (TSO) for gas with a pipeline network of approx. 12.000 km and is a frontrunner in building a future hydrogen backbone in Germany and Europe. We are fully committed to the European Green Deal and want to contribute to decarbonising the European economy by making use of our infrastructure in a sustainable and secure way. We welcome the aim of the Commission to establish a future-proof regulatory framework for hydrogen infrastructure and the hydrogen market and agree that it is sensible to build upon the achievements reached in the gas and electricity sectors over the last decades. The war in Ukraine and the subsequent political consequences have further increased the necessity to accelerate the energy transition and the ramp-up of the hydrogen infrastructure specifically. This can only be achieved if dogmatism is thrown overboard and instead pragmatic and goal-oriented solutions are found that enable companies to make large-scale investments very soon. With regards to the revision of the Gas Directive, we believe that proposed provisions on vertical and horizontal unbundling are major obstacles to any near-time investments in hydrogen infrastructure. While being fully committed to the concept of unbundling, we believe it would be counter productive to introduce even stricter unbundling rules for hydrogen network operators compared to those in place today in the gas and electricity sectors. OGE is certified as an ITO, being owned by financial investors, some of which are considered as vertically integrated undertakings due to non-related shareholdings in companies active in energy production or supply. The proposed phase-out of the ITO model for hydrogen network operators after 2030 would mean for us that we would be forced to either sell off our infrastructure repurposed to hydrogen or leasing its operation to a third party only a few years after commissioning. Both options do not provide any incentive for ITOs to invest in repurposing existing infrastructure to hydrogen and imply that the operation of the methane and the hydrogen system will be structured in fully separated undertakings, thus impeding the use of synergies. An acceleration of investments in hydrogen infrastructures and technologies, especially by existing gas infrastructure operators, can only be achieved if they are provided with certainty that they will be able to transform their business model in a sustainable and future-proof way. Excluding many potential investors, including the around 20 existing gas ITOs in Europe, by limiting the unbundling models will impede or at least significantly delay the realisation of a European hydrogen backbone. In addition, the proposed provisions on horizontal unbundling between hydrogen and gas infrastructure operators are to be amended to allow for an integrated planning and operation of both infrastructures, allowing for synergies to be realised to the benefit of the entire market. The proposed informational and organisational unbundling would make it impossible to exchange the information needed to effectively plan a repurposing process and would prohibit the provision of services between the operators. Furthermore, a mandatory legal unbundling between hydrogen and gas network operators implies bureaucratic hurdles and potential administrative conflicts due to the required transfer of assets and rights over a long period of time, without bringing any clear benefits that cannot be achieved through unbundling of accounts within a single entity. Finally, we consider the provisions on network planning to be insufficient. A non-binding and separate report on the development of the hydrogen infrastructure will not enable an integrated planning of both infrastructures which is required for an effective transition process. Instead, the Gas Directive should oblige Member States to perform integrated network development plans for all gases, methane and hydrogen.

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Meeting with Markus Pieper (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Hydrogen Europe and

6 Dec 2021 · RED III

Meeting with Aleksandra Tomczak (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans), Sarah Nelen (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans) and

29 Sept 2021 · Meeting on regulatory framework for a possible future hydrogen grid

Response to A EU hydrogen strategy

8 Jun 2020

Please find our feedback in the attached document

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