EU Commission's REPowerEU plan: Bearish for Guarantees of Origin near-term, but supportive in the long-run

On 18 May 2022, the European Commission presented the REPowerEU plan outlining how the bloc plans on rapidly becoming independent of Russian oil and gas in light of the current geopolitical situation. This includes a suggestion to use renewable energy purchase agreements for European industries and businesses to have direct access to affordable renewable power to increase energy security and affordability in the EU. We assume this to result in temporary bearish price pressure in the short-term, while mid-to-long-term we see prices being supported via additional demand from conversion use cases such as green hydrogen.

Commission issues guidelines to speed-up renewable project permitting and PPAs

The European Commission staff working document includes guidelines for Member states on the best practices to speed up permitting-granting procedures for renewable energy projects and on facilitating Power Purchase Agreements.

The following recommendations were made regarding the Guarantees of Origin (GoO) markets:

• Member States can facilitate the development of PPAs by allowing the issuing of GoO in public support schemes so that the revenue from the GoO reduces the need for public financing.
• Member States can facilitate the development of cross-border PPAs by removing regulatory barriers affecting the transfer of GoOs to off-takers and further harmonising the rules for the use of GoOs across countries.
• Member States can facilitate the development of cross-border PPAs by supporting the development of reliable, accurate and fraud-resistant GoO systems in third countries.