The France Hydrogène association analyzed the climate law from the perspective of the hydrogen sector. She gives us an analysis of its implications, from financing carbon-free hydrogen to mobility and storage. Exhaustive explanations.
Climate and resilience law: what’s new for hydrogen? This is the question that France Hydrogène looked into. Parliament has in fact just adopted on July 20 the law “on the fight against climate change and strengthening resilience to its effects” (validated on August 24), after a compromise agreement reached between the two chambers. Taking up part of the 149 proposals from the Citizens’ Climate Convention, the law was considerably enriched by deputies and senators during its parliamentary journey, going from around sixty initial articles to 305 articles today.
Among the contributions of parliamentarians, new measures specifically concern hydrogen. With the government’s ambition to make renewable, low-carbon hydrogen a lever for the ecological transition, this energy vector is the subject of new legislation, still being adapted, aimed at facilitating its deployment in the energy system.
Financing by the territories
Defended by France Hydrogène, proposed by several deputies and senators, it is ultimately the initiative of a government amendment in the Senate that the financing of the production of carbon-free hydrogen by local authorities, a measure contained in article 88 of the climate law, was introduced.
It opens up the possibility for municipalities and intermunicipalities that wish to do so to develop, operate, or have renewable or low-carbon hydrogen production facilities developed and operated by a third party in their territories.
A possibility which was already offered to them for renewable energy production, waste recovery or cogeneration installations, and which should facilitate the creation of consortia between local authorities and industrialists for the emergence of green hydrogen, recalls France Hydrogène in his press release.
In the same direction, this article also allows municipalities and intermunicipalities, as well as regions and departments, to participate in the capital of a limited company or a simplified joint stock company whose corporate purpose is the production of hydrogen. renewable or low carbon by installations located on their territory or in territories located nearby. Such a choice must result from a deliberation of their deliberative body.
Call for storage
In the National Assembly, the deputies recorded in article 85 the creation of a new call for tenders to develop electricity storage capacities, which could be activated by the public authorities when the objectives of the PPE will be deemed insufficient or when RTE highlights flexibility needs. It is the latter who will be responsible for organizing consultation with the sectors concerned and Enedis on the technical arrangements for providing flexibilities on the electrical system. After competitive bidding, RTE will analyze and classify the offers which will be selected by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The manager of the public electricity transmission network will finally conclude a contract remunerating the storage capacities of the winners.
In this regard, the system explicitly provides that the tender procedure must distinguish between different storage solutions, including hydrogen, batteries and pumped energy transfer stations (STEP). A decree must specify these aspects. France Hydrogène points out in passing that, according to RTE, the needs for storage and flexibility of the electricity system should only emerge from 2030–2035, depending on the scenarios in which hydrogen can serve as a seasonal storage solution.
Underground storage
A vast project in preparation, the reform of the Mining Code provided for in article 81 must be the subject of a government order taken within 15 months after the publication of the law.
On the menu of this order, the government must in particular work to specify “the legal regimes for underground storage and mines in order, in particular, to define the terms of their extension to other substances, such as hydrogen”. This involves continuing a project already started with the hydrogen ordinance, consisting of standardizing and simplifying the granting of mining titles for underground hydrogen storage projects. This targets both exclusive research permits to identify an underground formation suitable for storage, initially, and exploitation titles (concession) to exploit it, secondly.
Several underground hydrogen storage projects in salt cavities or former natural gas storage sites are under development in France by 2025. This is the case of HyGreen Provence in Manosque (South region), of HyPSTER on the Etrez site (AURA), Emil’HY in Saint-Avold (Grand-Est), or HyGéo in Caresse-Cassaber (Nouvelle-Aquitaine). A recent study estimates France’s hydrogen storage needs at 8 TWh from 2030 (then 40 TWh in 2050), which implies quickly launching the first projects.
Activities of research, creation, testing, development or exploitation of cavities or underground formations suitable for storing hydrogen must therefore be subject to the common law of the Mining Code. But to accelerate the deployment of these projects, it would be appropriate to simplify the procedures which fall under the legal regime for mines (Mining Code) on the one hand, and the legal regime for underground storage (Environment Code) on the other. The need to obtain an exclusive hydrogen storage research permit should be lifted for all projects aimed at the reconversion of abandoned salt cavities and underground formations, already known and identified.
Aid for vehicle acquisition
In terms of mobility, parliamentarians also consolidated the existing system and created a new tool. The tax surcharge system for the acquisition of hydrogen-powered heavy goods vehicles has been extended with article 133 of the law, which extends it until 2030 compared to 2024 previously. In detail, it allows companies subject to corporate or income tax to make deductions equivalent to 20% of the value of the property for hydrogen utility vehicles between 2.6 and 3.5 tonnes, at 60% of its value for hydrogen-powered heavy goods vehicles between 3.5 and 16 tonnes and 40% for those over 16 tonnes.
The senators also obtained in CMP the creation of a zero-interest loan to help individuals and businesses finance the acquisition of low-emission vehicles (article 107), as long as they are domiciled in a low-emission zone. emissions or nearby, areas which will gradually be extended into French urban areas. It will be implemented from 2023, for an experimental period of two years. The vehicles concerned must be less than 2.6 tonnes and emit less than 50 gCO2/km, which effectively qualifies fuel cell vehicles and electric battery vehicles.
PPE and guarantees of origin
Finally, the senators wanted to add a series of targeted modifications for hydrogen through a specific article, which became article 87 of the law.
First of all, it is a question of ensuring that renewable and low-carbon hydrogen will indeed appear on the menu of the next PPE, scheduled for 2023, via a five-year law which will be discussed and voted on by Parliament. An appointment is made at this deadline to determine the main directions for the development of the sector in our energy system.
The senators then extended to intermunicipalities and metropolises the possibility of pre-empting, free of charge, guarantees of origin of renewable or low carbon hydrogen issued for subsidized electrolysis installations located on their territory, which was only a matter of option offered to municipalities; it’s a logical adaptation.
Finally, on the aspect of administrative simplification, they introduced flexibilities for the establishment in the public domain of the State of electrolysers supported by future calls for tenders from the State for the production of carbon-free hydrogen ( horizon 2022). In such a case, the winners will be given an agreement in principle to the issuance of occupancy titles, without a competitive bidding procedure.
