A number of improvements have been made to criteria concerning the entry of natural gas-fueled power stations to the “transitional activities” section of the European Commission’s Taxonomy, intended to serve as a guide for private and public-sector investments required to achieve climate neutrality over the next 30 years.

However, an emissions limit for natural gas-fueled power stations included in the initial plan has been maintained, despite being considered unfeasible by producers.

The elimination of intermediate objectives for green hydrogen incorporation at natural gas-fueled power stations has been embraced as an important improvement by electricity producers.

Initially, authorities had planned intermediate objectives that would have required hydrogen to represent 30 percent of generation at gas-fueled plants by 2026 and 55 percent by 2030. Under the revisions, green hydrogen will need to fully represent generation at these plants as of 2036.

Consultation on the Taxonomy has just been completed, while supplementary terms have been finalized.

Criteria concerning the entry of natural gas-fueled power stations to the EU’s Taxonomy are crucial for Greece, given the country’s number of investment plans for new natural gas-fueled power stations.

These units, according to the National Energy and Climate Plan, will be called on to play an important role in ensuring grid stability and supply sufficiency as the RES sector further penetrates the energy mix.