EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR ENERGY
DIRECTORATE C - New and renewable sources of energy, energy efficiency & innovation
Energy Efficiency
Brussels,
ENER/C3/ (2011)
COMMITTEE ON COGENERATION (ART. 14 DIRECTIVE 2004/8/EC)
Brussels, 17 February 2011
Summary record
1.
The Commission opened the meeting.
2.
The agenda was approved.
3.
The minutes of the Committee meeting on 02.12.2010 were approved
4.
Review of the reference values for separate heat & electricity production – Draft
Commission Decision
The Commission gave an overview of the review of the reference values. According to the
Directive the Commission is to review the reference values every four years to take account of
technological developments and changes in the distribution of energy sources. The first set of
values was established by Decision 2007/74/EC1.
The harmonised reference values are the basis to calculate the primary energy savings and to
determine the concept of high efficiency cogeneration. The principles for the definition of
harmonised reference values are set out in Article 4(1) of Directive 2004/8/EC and in Annex
III (f) and further specified for application in Decision 2007/74/EC. The reference values
consist of a matrix of values differentiated by relevant factors, including the year of
construction and the type of fuel. They are to be established taking into account the data from
operational use under realistic conditions, climate conditions and applied cogeneration
technologies.
The reference values establish the operating efficiency of separate heat and electricity
production and each cogeneration unit is to be compared with the best available and
economically justified technology for separate production of heat and electricity.
Current reference values for electricity are differentiated for 16 types of fuel and according to
the year of construction with correction factors for the climatic situation and avoided grid
losses. However, current reference values for heat are not differentiated according to the year
of construction and do not include climatic or grid correction factors.
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Commission Decision of 21 December 2006 establishing harmonised efficiency reference values for separate
production of electricity and heat in application of Directive 2004/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council (2007/74/EC)
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The review of the current reference values is being based on data collection and analysis
carried out by the Commission. In October 2010, The Commission sent a request to Member
States to provide the relevant data. The reported data were incomplete and sometimes
incorrect. Data are of insufficient range and quantity to demonstrate a statistically significant
improvement in the actual performance of the state-of-the-art plants in the period under
review.
The analysis carried out by the Commission confirmed the methodologies and assumptions on
the basis of which the reference values were set in the previous period in Decision
2007/74/EC. For electricity, the technological development observed during the review period
cannot support a differentiation according to the year of construction. This supports the flat
line extension for 2006-2011 to 2012-2015. The analysis confirmed also the validity of the
correction factors relating to the climatic situation and to avoided grid losses. For heat, the use
of a single set of reference values for the entire period and the waiving of correction factors
for climatic differences and grid losses were confirmed.
The Commission recommended no change (other than minor technical adjustments) in the
current situation.
In the ensuing discussion most of the Member States welcomed the decision of the
Commission to extend the current reference values for the next period 2012-2015.
The Chair informed the Member States that at the next Committee meeting a vote on a
proposal for a Commission Decision on reviewed reference values will take place. He invited
Member States to comment on the distributed draft proposal. Further comments from Member
States would also be welcome within the next two weeks to allow the Commission to
optimise the draft proposal. Finally, he gave some indication concerning the timetable for the
adoption of the reviewed reference values. The chair explained that under the Regulatory
Procedure with Scrutiny (PRAC – Procédure de Réglementation Avec Contrôle), the
Commission will send out the reviewed draft Decision "on harmonised efficiency reference
values for separate production of electricity and heat" to the Council and the European
Parliament as soon as possible after the opinion of the Committee (voting session) in
May/June. After a three month scrutiny period without opposition, the Commission's
objective is to be in a position to adopt the draft Decision in September/October 2011.
Publication in the Official Journal should then occur either in October or November, before
the end of the year.
5. State of play in the evaluation of the implementation of the cogeneration Directive
The Commission reported on the state of play in the evaluation of the implementation of the
Directive, which is still ongoing. This evaluation focuses on communication of implementing
legislation, reporting obligations and compliance with the Directive.
As to the communication of implementing legislation some infringements on noncommunication were opened in 2009. However, today, all Member States have communicated
their transposition measures.
Concerning the reporting obligations, the Commission received the last two reports the same
week. This puts the Commission in a position to close all infringements on reporting.
The evaluation of the legal transposition of the Directive is ongoing. Elements of particular
interest for the Commission are the definition of high-efficiency CHP (Art. 3, Annex III), the
framework for guarantees of origin ("GO", Art. 5), electricity grid systems (Art. 8), support
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schemes (Art. 7) and administrative procedures, in particular authorisation and coordination
between administrative bodies (Art. 9). Whereas there are no problems with the definitions,
the guarantee of origin system is incomplete in some Member States. As to GO, the
Commission first of all checks if a system is in place and if the formal requirements for GOs
are included in the legislation. As to grid issues, Member States are required to ensure priority
dispatch by transmission system operators and may provide priority access. In addition,
Member States may particularly facilitate access to the grid system of electricity produced
from high-efficiency cogeneration from small scale and micro cogeneration units. The
Commission has the intention to analyse the support schemes which shall be based on useful
heat demand and primary energy savings.
Further, the Commission asked the Member States to inform the Commission whether they
have chosen to use the alternative calculations according to Article 12(2) which allows
Member States to calculate primary energy savings according to Annex III (c) without using
Annex II of Directive 2004/8/EC.
6. Review of the Cogeneration Directive
The Chair outlined the main political developments in energy efficiency policy in the last
months. The last modelling work of the Commission which looked at the situation at the end
of December 2009 showed that with present polices and measures the EU is likely to achieve
energy savings of about 9 % by 2020, which implies that it will not reach its objective of 20%
energy savings compared to a projection by 2020. The Commission has been working with
Member States to clarify their voluntary targets for energy saving for 2020. The 20 Member
States for which the Commission has already a clear understanding of their voluntary target
appear to be aiming at a level of ambition of approximately 14 % by 2020. During the last
European Council session on 4 February 2011, Member States reaffirmed however their
desire to achieve the 20%-saving target.
The Commission will soon bring forward an Energy Efficiency Plan - it will be adopted
beginning of March. This plan will outline concrete measures to get on track for the 20%
target. The Parliament has given its view on what it wants to see in the follow-up to that plan
in the "Bendtsen Report". The Commission is expecting Council conclusions for the 10th of
June. Soon after the adoption of the Council conclusions, the Commission intends to come
forward with a legislative proposal to put into practice the non-financial part of the
implementation of this plan.
The Chair recalled that the CHP-Directive does not seem to reach fully its objective of
increasing the share of CHP. The Commission considers reviewing the CHP-Directive and the
Energy Services Directive and replacing them by a single energy savings Directive. It also
considers making, under certain conditions, the use of the heat a precondition for
authorisation for new generation capacity. In addition, The Commission will look at the
network access rules granted for high efficiency CHP under the CHP Directive in light of the
enhanced network access rules for renewable energy sources under the new Renewable
Energy Directive (Directive 2009/28/EC). It will also examine whether access to the
distribution network should also be the subject of legal provisions. The Commission also
considers the scope for specific proposals for district heating.
Member States generally welcomed the idea of an energy savings Directive. However, some
Member States raised some objections concerning the integration of CHP Directive into a new
energy savings Directive.
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The Chair clarified that it is not already decided whether the Commission will merge the two
Directives in one single Directive. He thanked the Member States for the stimulating
discussion, inviting them to continue to contribute to the discussion via the national
delegations in the energy working group or bilaterally with the Commission. He asked
Member States to contact the Commission if they want to make any further contribution.
7. Any other business
Some Member State asked for information on progress made regarding guidelines for
reporting to be developed by Eurostat. The Commission informed the Member States that
Eurostat has not yet finalised its work and that Member States will be informed as soon as the
information is available.
Attendance:
Chairperson, Paul Hodson (DG ENER.C.3)
Commission staff from DG ENER, JRC
Member States: 21 MS attended, see Annex
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Annex: Attendance list at the CHP Committee meeting on 17.02.2011 in Brussels (BE)
Member States
Attendance
BE
Bruxelles Environnement (IBGE)
Service Public de Wallonie
Département de l'énergie et du bâtiment durable
BG
Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism
CZ
CY
Ministry of Industry and Trade
Association for District Heating of the CZ
Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Tourism
DK
Danish Energy Agency
DE
Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
EE
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications
EL
Centre for Renewable Energy Sources & Saving
FI
Ministry of Employment and the Economy
FR
Direction Générale de l'Energie et du Climat
HU
Hungarian Energy Office
IE
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
IT
Ministry of Economic Development
LV
Ministry of Economics of Republic of Latvia
NL
Ministry of Economic Affairs
PL
Ministry of Economy
PT
Ministry of Economy and Innovation (DGGE)
SE
SI
SDHA
Swedish Energy Agency
Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications
Ministry of the Economy
SK
Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency
UK
Department for Energy and Climate Change - DECC
AEA Technology
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