Germany eyes AIB Hub following state-run gas registry launch

The German Environment Agency (UBA) intends to apply for gas membership of the Association of Issuing Bodies once it establishes a national statutory registry for renewable gas certificates, a spokesperson from the body told Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.

The agency has been designated by the government as the competent authority responsible for establishing and managing Germany's central, state-administered statutory registry for Guarantees of Origin (GOs) covering biomethane, hydrogen and other renewable gases. State-appointment is a requirement for a country/registry to join the AIB Hub.

"Once the UBA's gas registry becomes fully operational, the UBA is expected to apply to expand its AIB membership to include the Gas Scheme Group and connect to the AIB Hub for cross-border GO trading," the spokesperson said.

The agency told Platts it is "intensively preparing the administrative, technical and legal foundations" to set the GO registry up. "The UBA gas registry is being developed in parallel to and independent of the existing biomethane registry managed by Dena," the spokesperson added.

The German Energy Agency, or Dena, is a privately-run company working on topics such as energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and intelligent energy systems. It operates a biomethane GO registry, but it cannot apply for AIB membership as it is not the authorized body in Germany to administer the gas certificates.

UBA said it cannot specify a "concrete launch date for full operational service and connection to the AIB Hub," but it was "already actively involved in the AIB's Gas Scheme Group to help shape the European transfer system."

UBA is already a full AIB member for the Electricity Scheme Group, managing electricity GOs via its registry.

AIB gas grows

The hub boasts 42 members and six observers from 36 countries, as of Oct. 7. The national registries of six new member states joined this year alone, boosting cross-border transfer capacities and GO fungibility among participating members.

France — the bloc's largest biomethane producer — officially joined the AIB Hub in June, boosting the significance of AIB membership as spot transactions among member countries increase. Between June and September, France exported a total of 624 gigawatt-hours of gas GOs and received 15.7 GWh, with Spain and the Netherlands as the largest recipients.

"One painful question for everybody in Germany is the AIB connection," said a European biomethane trader from Germany. "[The German Environment Agency] will operate a registry, but we don't know when. They are not speeding up the connection to the AIB hub."

Lacking connectivity to other AIB member states, German volumes will continue to seek alternative destinations, such as domestic consumption for transport compliance or transfer to member countries of the European Renewable Gas Registry, such as the UK.

One use case is transferring German unsubsidized waste-derived GOs to meet obligations under the UK's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, which requires major suppliers of transport fuel to ensure a specific percentage of their supplied fuel comes from sustainable, low-carbon sources.

Platts last assessed the European Unsubsidized Biomethane (EUB) spot prices — reflecting the most competitive EU waste-derived GO prices — at €35.125/megawatt-hour on Oct. 7. The EUB price is currently being set by German volumes, which trade at a discount to Dutch or Danish unsubsidized production.