Companies delivering renewable energy in the Netherlands can register deliveries in their account in the Energy for Transport Registry (Register Energie voor Vervoer, REV). In return, they receive renewable energy units (hernieuwbare brandstofeenheden, HBEs).
Conditions apply regarding renewable energy to be registered and registering companies.
Renewable energy to be registered
Companies can register deliveries of the following types of renewable energy:
- liquid biofuels delivered to the Dutch market;
- gaseous biofuels delivered to the Dutch transport sector;
- electricity delivered to the Dutch transport sector, with the exception of electricity for railway vehicles;
- liquid renewable fuels delivered to the Dutch transport sector;
- gaseous renewable fuels delivered to the Dutch transport sector.
Registering companies
To be able to register deliveries, companies must have an REV account with a registration facility. Companies are eligible for an account if they meet certain criteria. The following companies are allowed to register deliveries of liquid biofuels and liquid renewable biofuels:
- licensed keepers of an excise warehouse for mineral oils;
- licensed Registered Consignees for mineral oils;
- importers subject to excise duty as defined in the Excise Duty Act.
Companies that deliver gaseous biofuels or electricity can register such deliveries if they qualify as buyers within the meaning of the Gas Act or the Electricity Act and have connections to the grid and suitable charging infrastructure.
Companies can register deliveries of gaseous renewable fuels if they have a licence under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) and deliver hydrogen to the transport sector.
Registration period
Companies can register deliveries of renewable energy in the REV throughout the year. The deadline for registering deliveries made in a calendar year is 28 February (29 February in leap years) of the following year. Companies that want to register their biofuel deliveries as double-counting can enter double-counting certificates and link these to the registered deliveries until 31 March.
HBEs received
Registering companies will receive one HBE for each GJ of renewable energy delivered and registered. Once a company has registered a delivery, the corresponding number of HBEs is immediately credited to its REV account. Once a delivery has been registered and associated HBEs have been received, the registration cannot be changed.
Furthermore, specific multipliers apply to specific types of renewable energy and/or types of end users. As a result, one delivered GJ of renewable energy can generate more than one HBE.
Biofuels produced from feedstock listed in Part A and B of Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Directive are eligible for double-counting. This means that registered deliveries of biofuel produced from listed feedstocks result in the twice the number of HBEs being credited. This is an additional stimulus for delivering and registering biofuel produced from waste and residue flows.
However, Registering deliveries as double-counting is subject to prerequisites. See Feedstocks and double-counting for further details on this.
Deliveries of biofuels to the marine shipping sector only qualify for HBEs if the biofuels have been produced from feedstocks listed in Annex IX Part A of the Renewable Energy Directive or in the Dutch industrial waste list (Annex 5 of the Dutch Energy for Transport Regulations). For 2022, in addition to this feedstock-based double- counting, a multiplier of 0.8 will also apply to registered deliveries to the marine shipping sector, so as to regulate the effect of the number of HBEs from marine shipping in the HBE market. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management may revise this multiplier from year to year.
A multiplier of 1.2 applies to fuel deliveries to the aviation sector that have been produced from biofuels that do not result in the creation of HBE-Cs.
Besides the multipliers applying to the use of specific feedstocks or deliveries to particular types of end users, there are two further multipliers.
Electricity: a multiplier of 4 applies to electricity in view of the energy efficiency of electric vehicles and to promote the use of these vehicles in transport. For more information, see Registering delivery of electricity.
Renewable fuel: a multiplier of 2.5 applies to promote to the use of renewable fuel in transport. For more information, see Registering delivery of gaseous renewable fuels and Registering delivery of liquid renewable fuels.
The REV will not automatically credit HBEs for renewable energy delivered between 1 January and 1 May of a specific calendar year and which was registered during that period. Instead, allocation will occur after 1 May of the year in question, after the year-end closing for the preceding year has taken place.
The NEa can suspend crediting of HBEs if an anomaly in the registering profile or other irregularities are detected in the REV.
Registration verification
Companies register renewable energy deliveries in the Energy for Transport Registry (REV) must have a Verification Certificate for Registered Renewable Energy in respect of each year. This certificate shows whether the deliveries of renewable energy registered meet all legal requirements. If the Verification Certificate for Registered Renewable Energy is not completed successfully, the registering company must submit a report of findings. The verifier must update the REV with the verification outcomes for deliveries registered in the preceding calendar year by 30 April of each year.
Registration verifiers must perform their verification activities in a detached an impartial manner. In addition, registration verifiers must be accredited by the Dutch Accreditation Council (Nederlandse Raad voor Accreditatie, RvA) or a national accreditation body in another Member State of the European Union (EU) to verify registered deliveries of renewable energy to the transport sector.
Registration verifiers may also perform audits if they have demonstrably commenced an accreditation procedure but have not yet completed it. The following institutions are currently accredited to audit registered deliveries:
- Control Union Certifications B.V.
- DEKRA Certification B.V.
- Quality Services Inspection (QSI) B.V.
Information regarding the accreditation process is available from the Accreditation Council (RvA: Raad voor Accreditatie).
The requirements for verification of delivered renewable energy have been detailed in Appendix 8 of the Energy for Transport Regulations (Dutch). Verifiers must perform their activities in accordance with the verification protocol they have drawn up and which has been approved by the NEa.
Year-end closing of registration
The year-end closing encompasses all of the transactions that companies, verifiers and the NEa must carry out at the start of the calendar year in order to comply with the statutory requirements. The HBEs that cannot be banked (i.e. carried over to a subsequent year) will lapse. This is the final step in the year-end closing.
The NEa will provide participants in the Energy for Transport system with information in relation to the year-end closing. For example, through a specific webpage.
Checks on registrations by the NEa
The NEa will carry out periodic checks on registrations alongside the registration verifiers. Incorrect registrations can be officially corrected by the NEa up to 5 years after the calendar year to which the registration relates.