Ireland submitted its National Implementation Measures (NIMs) to the European Commission on 22 December 2011.
The NIMs document sets out the levels of free allocation of allowances to installations under Phase III of the EU Emissions Trading System (2013-2020), in accordance with Article 11 of the revised ETS Directive (2009/29/EC). The allocations as set out in the NIMs are preliminary allocations only.
The allocations have been determined in accordance with EU harmonised rules, using data provided from operators of EU ETS Phase III installations in 2011. These rules, along with associated guidance, can be found in EU Commission’s Decision of 27 April 2011 determining transitional Union-wide rules for harmonised free allocation of emission allowances. More information is also available on the European Commission web pages on benchmarking for Phase III.
The Commission are currently engaged in checking each Member States NIMs and this process is expected to continue until at least the middle of 2012, as several MS have yet to submit their NIMs. The allocations are not final at this stage until the European Commission accepts all EU Member States’ NIMs and has made any necessary adjustments to allocations.
Follow this link to download the NIMs document as published by the EPA.
16th June 2011 - Additional instructions on Completion of the Baseline Data Collection Template
The EU Commission issued "Complimentary Instructions" to Guidance Document No. 3 to clarify certain issues with the baseline collection template. Please read the instructions carefully in case they impact your application for free allocation.
The EU has recently identified some improvements/bug fixes in the data collection template. These make no difference to the majority of operators except those who are completing the Source Stream data in Section B and any brick manufacturing companies. If you are not using Source Stream data and have already completed some of the template you can still submit the older version to us. If you are effected or have yet to commence using the template please download the new version and use it.
20th April 2011 - Baseline Data Collection for Phase III has commenced - see templates and guidance at this link
01 April 2011 - Read the latest information regarding Phase III
These pages provide information for operators regarding the third trading period of the EU ETS 2013-2020 (Phase III). Some of the information regards action that must be taken straight away, if for example you are covered by the scheme for the first time from 2013 onwards.
The EU Emissions Trading System has been revised and expanded through the adoption of Directive 2009/29/EC. A copy of the Directive can be downloaded from the EU Commission website.
See Commission Memo - Questions & Answers on the revised EU Emissions Trading System
The revised Directive takes effect from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2020. It introduces significant changes to the scope of the EU ETS, as well as changes to operator entitlement to free allowances and how they will be issued. Initial aspects of this directive have been transposed into Irish legislation by SI 161 of 2010 and SI 127 of 2011.
This page outlines the most significant changes to the Directive, the potential impact on operators and some of the most immediate implementation tasks.
Read the sections below on the 'Scope of Phase III' and 'How can we identify installations new to EU ETS under Phase III?' so you understand which installations are now covered by EU ETS.
This includes releases of: carbon dioxide from the production of bulk organic chemicals, non-ferrous metals and gypsum related activities; releases of perfluorocarbons and carbon dioxide from the primary aluminium sector and; releases of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide from the production of nitric, adipic, glyoxal and glyoxylic acid.
Addition of a broad definition of combustion, now capturing all combustion of fuel.
The exclusion of installations using 97 per cent or more biomass (fossil fuels may be used for start-up and shut-down).
Subject to Government consultation and approval by the European Commission, the possible exclusion from Phase III of:
Operators will still be required to complete the forthcoming data requests even if they consider that they may be covered by the above exclusions because we must wait for European Commission approval before withdrawing the installations from the scheme.
Phase III will include any installation where fuel is burned in combustion units of 3 MW rated thermal input or above for any purpose (other than for the incineration of hazardous or municipal waste) and which, when aggregated, together exceed 20MW rated thermal input. Biomass units using fossil fuels only during start-up or shut down are excluded when assessing the aggregated rated thermal input.
Where the 20 MW threshold is exceeded, all combustion units (including any biomass units) are captured by the EU ETS except units for the incineration of hazardous or municipal waste.
This includes all types of:
and in particular:
We have consulted with IBEC and contacted sites already regulated by the EPA, who may now also be captured under the changes to the scheme. Ireland, in common with some of the other Member States already used a broad definition of combustion as recommended by the Commission and as a result we do not expect many existing industries to be included for the first time from 2013.
There will be two data trawls for Phase III of EU ETS:
Guidelines to assist with the completion of the data requests and for the verification of production and other relevant data can be found on our forms and guidance page.
