The Dutch government has formally submitted its renewable gas blending obligation bill to parliament, requiring suppliers to reduce a certain amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually by supplying biomethane to their end users. The bill allows for imports from other EU countries.
Under the system, suppliers must submit green gas units — groengaseenheid (GGEs) — to a central registry managed by the Dutch Emissions Authority, with each unit representing 1 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions saved. Suppliers can meet their obligation — which is based on their market share of supply — by converting renewable gas guarantees of origin (RGGOs) and Proofs of Sustainability (PoS) into GGEs.
To be eligible for conversion, the renewable gas must be unsubsidised and comply with RED III sustainability and GHG reduction criteria, verified through EU-recognised certification schemes such as ISCC.
A key feature of the bill is that renewable gas produced in other EU member states can count towards the obligation, including gas injected into the interconnected European gas grid, provided it meets the same requirements as Dutch renewable gas. In practice, compliance would be demonstrated through the use of RGGOs and an accompanying PoS. Foreign GOOs can be transferred into the Dutch system via the Association of Issuing Bodies hub.
The scheme will be aligned with the Union Database once it becomes operational for biomethane.
The blending mechanism allows suppliers to pay a buyout price to cover all or part of their annual obligation not met by the provision of renewable gas, providing a ceiling price in the event of supply shortages. The proposed price is €450/t, but a sliding scale could be applied, whereby the price rises the more that a supplier uses the mechanism to cover its obligations.
The proposal gives gas suppliers the option to carry over GGEs into the following calendar year, up to a maximum 10pc of the total quota, to "prevent unwanted market distortions".
The overarching target of the blending obligation is to achieve a CO2 chain-emission reduction of 2.85mn t in 2031, estimated to correspond to 0.84bn m³ of production. This would be achieved through increasing annual targets, starting with a 0.63mn t CO2 chain emission reduction in 2027, corresponding to roughly 0.16bn m³ of green gas (see table).
To support long-term investments, the obligation will continue until 2035, with specific targets for 2031-2035 to be revised based on green gas production at the time.
The bill will now go through the Dutch legislative process in Parliament, including the development of secondary legislation to set more detailed rules.
| Green gas obligation annual targets | CO₂ reduction (mn t) |
| Year | Target |
| 2027 | 0.63 |
| 2028 | 0.92 |
| 2029 | 1.33 |
| 2030 | 1.91 |
| 2031 | 2.85 |
| 2032 | 2.85 |
| 2033 | 2.85 |
| 2034 | 2.85 |
| 2035 | 2.85 |
| — Ministry of climate policy and green growth | |
