This week Brussels has become the meeting point to advance the modification of the European regulation EN 16325 on "Guarantees of Origin related to energy".
The meeting brought together both the European working group (CEN/CLC/JTC 14/WG 5 «Guarantees of Origin related to energy») and the national working group (CTN-UNE 216/GT 9) to evaluate the results and comments of the consultation on the draft standard, as well as to agree on next steps.
The goal of these groups, comprised of professionals like Malú Barrera, head of the Bioenergy department at Facsa, is to include guarantees of origin in the regulations, as well as energy vectors beyond renewable electricity, which is currently the only one covered. Specifically, the vectors these groups argue should be added are gaseous hydrocarbons—biomethane, biogas, ethane, propane, etc.—hydrogen, and heating and cooling.
It is worth noting that the work is being carried out by the CEN (European Committee for Standardization) and CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) bodies, both recognized by the European Union as responsible for developing and defining voluntary standards at the European level. The revision of the standard is mandated by the European Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), adopted by the European Commission.
