The company represents Spain in the European Consortium REGATRACE, a project formed by 15 organisations from ten European countries that aims to develop the renewable gas market in Europe.
Madrid, 16 January 2020.– NEDGIA, the gas distributor for the Naturgy group, is participating in the European Consortium REGATRACE as a partner representing Spain. This initiative, in which 15 organisations from ten European countries are participating, aims to develop the European market for renewable gas and the creation of an efficient trading system based on the emission and marketing of Guarantees of Origin (GoO) of biomethane and other renewable gases.
As a member REGATRACE, NEDGIA is making progress on its firm commitment to renewable gas as a solution to support economic decarbonisation. The company collaborates in the development of demonstration and innovation projects in production and cost reduction processes, and takes part in the main working groups to share experiences and align outlooks from the various stakeholders on the development of renewable gas.
The European Green Deal
Last December the European Commission presented the “European Green Deal”, a plan that includes 50 specific actions to combat climate change and make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
Renewable gas is present in this green deal, where the Commission stresses the importance of developing and incentivising the creation of a competitive market for decarbonised gas and working on innovative technologies to decarbonise key industrial sectors by 2030, including renewable gases.
The development of renewable gas will help meet a number of energy and climate targets set by the European Union by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the use of renewable energies.
Green energy
Renewable gas is a green energy of which, at present, biomethane is its greatest exponent. This biomethane, which is obtained from the use of organic waste, has a zero balance of CO2 emissions and is totally interchangeable with natural gas, so it can be distributed through the more than 87,000 kilometres of existing gas infrastructure:
• There is no need to make investments (either public or private) to transform either the network infrastructure or the users’ consumer equipment.
• And it can be used with the same energy applications in homes, industries, shops and also for transport mobility.
Biomethane is also the most significant energy-related driving force in the circular economy. It offers a solution to the problem of managing organic waste by repurposing this resource (production of renewable energy and bioproducts, mainly bio-fertilisers) and fostering development in rural areas through job creation and the stimulation of business activity.
REGATRACE
Renewable GAs TRAde Centre in Europe is an innovative action, formed by 15 organisations from ten European countries, which is co-financed by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.
Among the initiatives that REGATRACE has to develop, the following stand out:
• The creation of a European biomethane and renewable gas GoO system.
• The establishment of national GoO issuing bodies.
• The integration of the GoO of different renewable gas technologies with the electric and hydrogen GoO systems.
• The creation of a network of issuing bodies, including existing national biomethane registries, and establishing issuing bodies in the project target countries (Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Lithuania and Romania) REGATRACE will pave the way for the establishment of national biomethane registries in other countries (Croatia, Greece, Czech Republic, Latvia, Ukraine, Slovenia and Sweden)
About NEDGIA
NEDGIA is the leading company in natural gas distribution in Spain, where it operates through its different companies in 11 regions. The company supplies natural gas to 70% of all consumers in Spain: it has over 5.4 million supply points and has more than 53,800 kilometres of network in almost 1,150 Spanish municipalities.