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Additionality regulations require hydrogen producers to use new clean energy generation rather than existing grid power

Additionality requires hydrogen producers to use new clean power rather than existing clean power from the grid.1 Additionality rules keep hydrogen producers from monopolizing clean energy sources already on the grid and forcing other electricity users to rely on fossil fuel generation.2 Producers can meet these requirements in two ways. One option is for hydrogen producers to build their own distributed energy generation to power their production facilities. The second option is to connect to the grid but purchase “Energy Attribution Credits” (EACs) from newly built clean energy generators for every unit of electricity they use. An EAC is a certificate that represents proof that one unit of electricity was generated from a clean energy source and added to the power grid. Some additionality proposals allow producers to use energy from clean energy projects that have been on the grid for a few years.3

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Footnotes​

  1. International Renewable Energy Agency. (n.d.). Additionality principle. International Renewable Energy Agency. https://www.irena.org/Innovation-landscape-for-smart-electrification/Power-to-hydrogen/10-Additionality-principle ↩

  2. Haley, B. (2023, June 23). 45V Tax Credit: Three-Pillars Impact Analysis. Evolved Energy Research. https://www.evolved.energy/post/45v-three-pillars-impact-analysis ↩

  3. Sanders, M. J., & August, C. (2024, April 1). The ‘Three Pillars’ of EAC Use and the Proposed Regulations for Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit. Morgan Lewis. https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2024/04/the-three-pillars-of-eac-use-and-the-proposed-regulations-for-clean-hydrogen-tax-credit ↩