The Green Gas Support Scheme Regulations 2021

Made: 29th November 2021

Coming into force: 30th November 2021

In accordance with section 148A(1)(a) of the Government of Wales Act 2006[^f00003], the Secretary of State has consulted the Welsh Ministers.

PART 1 — Introductory

Citation, commencement and extent

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Green Gas Support Scheme Regulations 2021 and come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

• (2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• “acceptable letter of credit” has the meaning given in regulation 43(3);

• “additional biomethane[^f00004]” has the meaning given in regulation 8(7)(a);

• “additional credit cover” has the meaning given in regulation 52(1)(c);

• “air source heat pump” means a plant which generates heat using a thermodynamic cycle by transferring energy stored in the form of heat in the ambient air and uses that energy to heat a liquid;

• “anaerobic digester” means a plant which produces biogas[^f00005] by anaerobic digestion;

• “anaerobic digestion” means the bacterial fermentation of biomass[^f00006] in the absence of oxygen;

• “applicant” means a person who makes an application for a tariff guarantee, or an application for registration under regulation 5;

• “approved sustainable fuel” means solid biomass which is listed under a scheme approved by the Secretary of State in accordance with Schedule 2;

• “backdated levy payment” has the meaning given in regulation 49(2);

• “central register” has the meaning given in regulation 6(1);

• “certified biomethane” has the meaning given in regulation 38(15)(c);

• “commissioned”, in relation to equipment used to produce biomethane for injection, means—the completion of such procedures and tests as constitute, at the time they are undertaken, the usual industry standards and practices for commissioning that type of equipment in order to demonstrate that it is capable of producing biomethane for injection, andevery anaerobic digester which is part of that equipment has produced biogas which has been upgraded to biomethane and injected;

• “connected person”, in relation to an applicant, a participant, or a licensed gas supplier, means any person connected to them within the meaning of section 1122 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010[^f00007];

• “consumer prices index” means—the consumer prices index calculated and published by the Statistics Board[^f00008], orwhere the index is not published for a year, any substituted index or figures published by the Statistics Board;

• “credit cover requirement” has the meaning given in regulation 41;

• “current information” means information which is no more than five working days out of date;

• “date of registration”, in relation to a producer of biomethane, means the first day which falls on or after the date of receipt by the Authority[^f00009] of the application for registration on which the application was, in the Authority’s opinion, properly made;

• “de minimis amount” has the meaning given in regulation 43A(1);

• “digestate” means any substance, except biogas, which is generated from an anaerobic digester;

• “eligible biomethane” has the meaning given in regulation 27(2);

• “eligible heat pump” has the meaning given in regulation 8A(8);

• “energy content” means the energy contained within a substance (whether measured by a calorimeter or determined in some other way) expressed in terms of the substance’s gross calorific value within the meaning of BS 7420:1991 (Guide for the determination of calorific values of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels (including definitions))[^f00010];

• “energy crop” has the meaning given in regulation 12(10)(b);

• “enforcement notice” has the meaning given in regulation 53(1);

• “environmental permit” means a permit issued in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016[^f00011], or the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012[^f00012];

• “equipment used to produce biomethane” means the equipment integral to the production of biomethane for injection, including any anaerobic digester;

• “exempt supplier” has the meaning given in regulation 38(10)(c)(i);

• “existing credit cover” has the meaning given in regulation 42(6);

• “final quarterly levy payment” has the meaning given in regulation 51(7)(a);

• “financial penalty” means a financial penalty imposed in accordance with regulation 57;

• “financial year” means a 12 month period beginning with 1st April and ending with the following 31st March;

• “gas transporter” means the holder of a licence granted under section 7 of the Gas Act 1986[^f00013];

• “ground source heat pump” means a plant (which may or may not use a shared ground loop system) which generates heat using a thermodynamic cycle by transferring energy stored in the form of heat from the ground, including water in the ground or surface water or both, and uses that energy to heat a liquid;

• “guaranteed tariff” has the meaning given in regulation 4(9);

• “GWh” means gigawatt hours;

• “initial tariff” means the tiered tariff calculated in accordance with regulation 22;

• “injection” means the introduction of gas into a pipe-line system operated by a gas transporter, and “injected” is to be construed accordingly;

• “in lieu amount” has the meaning given in regulation 51(7C)(b);

• “kWh” means kilowatt hours;

• “kWhth” means kilowatt hours thermal;

• “levy credit payment” has the meaning given in regulation 42(2)(a)(iii);

• “levy rate” has the meaning given in regulation 39(1);

• “licensed gas supplier” means the holder of a licence under section 7A(1) of the Gas Act 1986[^f00014];

• “local and national laws” means laws applying in the locality in which the site is situated, whether made at a local or national level;

• “maximum additional capacity” has the meaning given in regulation 8(7)(b);

• “maximum initial capacity” has the meaning given in regulation 4(17);

• “meter point” means a supply meter point within the meaning given in the Uniform Network Code (as defined in section 36C(7) of the Gas Act 1986)[^f00015];

• “meter point data”, in relation to a scheme supplier, means the number of meter points served by that scheme supplier on any given day;

• “meter readings” has the meaning given in regulation 9(10)(c);

• “mutualisation payment” has the meaning given in regulation 56(5)(b)(i);

• “mutualisation process” has the meaning given in regulation 56(1);

• “network entry agreement” means an agreement between a person who injects biomethane and a gas transporter under which the person who injects biomethane is entitled to inject biomethane into the pipe-line system operated by that gas transporter;

• “ongoing participant obligation” means an obligation specified in Part 3;

• “original biomethane” means biomethane which is produced by a relevant producer (within the meaning given in regulation 17) and which falls within that producer’s maximum initial capacity;

• “participant” means a producer of biomethane who is registered on the central register in relation to the production of biomethane using the equipment used to produce biomethane specified in the register, and references to a “participant” are to that person’s registration as a participant in relation to that equipment used to produce biomethane;

• “penalty notice” has the meaning given in regulation 57(1);

• “periodic support payments” has the meaning given in regulation 18;

• “pipe-line system” has the meaning given in section 5(10) of the Gas Act 1986[^f00016];

• “producer of biomethane” means a producer of biomethane for injection by anaerobic digestion;

• “properly made”—in the case of an application for a tariff guarantee made under regulation 4, means an application which provides the information required by regulation 4(4),in relation to an application for registration made under regulation 5, means an application which provides the information required by or under regulation 5(2), (4) and (5), andin relation to an application to be registered in respect of additional biomethane made under regulation 8, means an application which provides such of the information referred to in regulation 5(4) and (5) as the Authority may require;

• “provisionally exempt supplier” has the meaning given in regulation 38(6);

• “quarter” means—the period beginning with 30th November 2021 and ending with 31st December 2021,the period beginning with 1st January 2022 and ending with 31st March 2022,a period of three months beginning with 1st January, 1st April, 1st July, or 1st October in any scheme year beginning with or after 1st April 2022;

• “quarterly levy payment” has the meaning given in regulation 40;

• “relevant tariff” means the tariff applicable to the production of biomethane;

• “the Scheme” has the meaning given in regulation 3;

• “scheme schedule” has the meaning given in regulation 63(2);

• “scheme supplier” has the meaning given in regulation 38;

• “scheme year” means—the period beginning with 30th November 2021 and ending with 31st March 2022 (“the first scheme year”),the financial year beginning with 1st April in any of the years 2022 to 2042;

• “shared ground loop system” means a system in which a ground loop provides heat energy through a hydraulic connection to two or more ground source heat pumps;

• “subsequent tariff” means the tiered tariff calculated in accordance with regulation 25;

• “tariff” means the payment rate per kWh in respect of biomethane injection;

• “tariff end date” means the last day of the tariff lifetime;

• “tariff guarantee” means a guarantee granted in accordance with regulation 4(6);

• “tariff lifetime”, in relation to a participant, means the period for which that person is eligible to receive periodic support payments;

• “tariff start date”—in relation to original biomethane in respect of which a participant is registered, means the date of registration for that biomethane,in relation to additional biomethane in respect of which a participant is registered, means the date of registration for that additional biomethane;

• “tiered tariff” means a tariff for which different rates are specified for numbered tiers;

• “total mutualisation amount” has the meaning given in regulation 56(4);

• “waste” has the meaning given in section 75(2) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990[^f00017];

• “waste management licence” means a licence issued in accordance with the Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011[^f00018];

• “working day” means any day other than—a Saturday, Sunday, Good Friday, or Christmas Day, ora day which is a bank holiday in England, Wales or Scotland under section 1 of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971[^f00019].

• (2) Except in regulation 4 (application for tariff guarantee and budget allocation) and 28 (reconciliation payments), where these Regulations provide for a figure to be rounded, that figure must be rounded to the nearest hundredth of a penny, with any two hundredth of a penny being rounded upwards.

The Green Gas Support Scheme

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A scheme to be known as the Green Gas Support Scheme, which is a scheme to facilitate and encourage the production of biomethane for injection by anaerobic digestion (“the Scheme”)[^f00020], is established in accordance with these Regulations.

PART 2 — Registration of participants and tariff guarantees

Application for tariff guarantee and budget allocation

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• (1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person who produces, or proposes to produce, biomethane for injection by anaerobic digestion may make an application for a tariff guarantee in respect of the production of that biomethane, in accordance with this regulation.

• (2) A person may not make an application for a tariff guarantee under paragraph (1) in respect of the production of biomethane—

• (a) if the date on which they expect the injection of that biomethane to commence is later than 31st March 2028, or

• (b) using equipment used to produce biomethane—

• (i) where a person is, or has been, registered under regulation 25 of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2011[^f00021] or regulation 32 of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2018[^f00022] (“RHI registration”) in respect of the production of biomethane using that equipment,

• (ii) where a person has made an application for RHI registration in respect of the production of biomethane using that equipment, and the application has not yet been determined,

• (iii) where a person has made an application for a tariff guarantee under regulation 35(1) of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2018 in respect of the production of biomethane using that equipment, and the application was withdrawn after the coming into force of these Regulations,

• (iv) which has been used to produce biomethane for injection by a participant who has withdrawn from the Scheme in accordance with regulation 16,

• (v) which has been used to produce biogas or biomethane, or both, before the coming into force of these Regulations, where paragraphs (i) to (iv) do not apply.

• (3) An applicant may not—

• (a) amend an application made under paragraph (1) without the agreement of the Authority,

• (b) make a further application under paragraph (1) in respect of the production of biomethane using the same equipment used to produce biomethane to which the original application relates without first withdrawing the original application.

• (4) An application must be in writing, in such form as the Authority may require, and must include the following information—

• (a) the date on which the injection of biomethane commenced, or on which the applicant expects the injection of biomethane to commence (as the case may be),

• (b) the expected maximum initial capacity,

• (c) the location of the plant where the biogas is or will be produced, and of the injection point where biomethane is or will be injected in accordance with the network entry agreement applicable to that biomethane,

• (d) a description of the equipment used to produce biomethane to which the application relates,

• (e) evidence that the applicant has entered into a connection agreement,

• (f) the applicant’s—

• (i) name,

• (ii) email address, and

• (iii) registered office (where applicable), or principal place of activity,

• (g) the volume expressed in cubic metres of eligible biomethane which the applicant intends to inject each year,

• (h) a statement from the applicant as to whether planning permission is necessary in respect of the processes by which the biogas which is used to produce the biomethane is produced, the biogas is upgraded to biomethane, or the biomethane is injected and, where such planning permission is necessary, evidence from the relevant planning authority that it has been granted, and

• (i) any further information which the Authority may require.

• (5) Subject to paragraphs (15) and (16), where the application has, in the Authority’s opinion, been properly made, the Authority must give a notice (a “provisional tariff guarantee notice”) to the applicant stating—

• (a) that a tariff guarantee will be granted if the Authority is satisfied that financial close has been reached,

• (b) the evidence which is required for the purposes of sub-paragraph (a),

• (c) the date, which must be no later than three weeks after the date on which the provisional tariff guarantee notice is given, by which all such evidence must be provided,

• (d) the date on which the properly made application was received by the Authority, and

• (e) the guaranteed tariff which will apply if the applicant becomes registered under regulation 6.

• (6) Where the Authority is satisfied that the applicant has provided the evidence specified in the provisional tariff guarantee notice by the date specified in the notice under paragraph (5)(c), the Authority must grant a tariff guarantee by notice to the applicant stating—

• (a) the guaranteed tariff which will apply if the applicant becomes registered under regulation 6, but subject to paragraph (7),

• (b) the date by which, for the purposes of the tariff guarantee, the injection of biomethane must commence (if injection of biomethane has not already commenced),

• (c) a description of the equipment used to produce biomethane to which the tariff guarantee applies,

• (d) the information which the applicant must supply to the Authority during the period of the tariff guarantee, and the frequency with which that information must be supplied, and

• (e) any further conditions which the Authority considers necessary in relation to the tariff guarantee.

• (7) The Authority—

• (a) may, at any time before the applicant is notified in accordance with regulation 6(4) that they are a participant, revoke a tariff guarantee, if—

• (i) there has been a material change in circumstances such that, had the application for the tariff guarantee been made after the change in circumstances, it would have been refused,

• (ii) the applicant fails to comply with conditions imposed in accordance with paragraph (6)(b), (d) or (e),