Regulatory monitoring for the energy sector

We translate EU and national energy law into concrete instructions for action across the business lines of utilities, generators, network operators and traders.

Few industries face as much regulatory change as the energy sector. Within a few years the EU alone has added the package on decarbonising the hydrogen and gas markets, the reform of the electricity market design, and sector-specific rules such as FuelEU Maritime and ReFuelEU Aviation. Each brings its own requirements and its own implementation deadlines. More are in preparation, among them the revision of the EU emissions trading system and another revision of the Renewable Energy Directive for the period after 2030.

At national level the picture is similar. On 29 July 2026 the German federal cabinet adopted the government bills for the 2027 amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and for the grid connection package. Parliamentary deliberation begins in September and both are intended to enter into force on 1 January 2027. The plan is to phase out the fixed feed-in tariff for new installations and to remunerate supported new installations of 100 kilowatts and above through two-sided contracts for difference. Existing installations keep the support they were granted. New installations below 25 kilowatts are to receive no permanent support from 2027. The grid connection package provides that in congested network regions, no compensation will be paid for part of the annual output when installations are curtailed.

Anyone investing in flexible green generation, in green gases or in connecting new large consumers needs to know which of these rules touch their own business model.

Does this affect you?

The trigger for monitoring usually comes out of business development. Five situations are typical.

Investment decisions with long lock-in. An electrolyser, a storage facility, a section of gas network or a power plant site is calculated over twenty years. Several regulatory cycles fall within that period.

Entering a new business line. Direct marketing of electricity, flexibility marketing, hydrogen trading, biomethane and charging infrastructure each come with their own regulatory framework, one in which you have no routine yet.

Activity in several member states. The same EU legal act can be transposed differently and at different times in Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Without a systematic comparison this only becomes apparent once a deadline is already running.

Monitoring without coordination. The legal department, public affairs and the business lines follow the same files separately and reach different conclusions. Board papers then lack a common basis.

Knowledge that sits with individuals. The assessment of a legislative file lives in one colleague's head. After they move on, the assessment starts again from scratch, and it cannot be evidenced to the supervisory board or to auditors.

Why implementing EU energy law is so demanding

Uneven transposition: The hydrogen market package and the electricity market reform each consist of a regulation and a directive. The regulation applies directly and identically across the EU. The directive is transposed by each member state separately, at different times and with deadlines that stretch over years.

Overlapping files: From "Fit for 55" through "REPowerEU" to the parallel revisions of the emissions trading system and the Renewable Energy Directive, the procedures sit on top of one another, each with its own transitional deadlines. What is a draft today can be law in two years.

The route into your own business. The fact that a new requirement on network development or market design exists says nothing yet about whether and when it reaches a particular business line. That is the mapping we do for you.

Three examples

Decarbonised gases. The forecast ranges are wider than the decisions built on them. The transformation pathway for the new gases, presented in 2023 by BDEW, DVGW and Zukunft Gas, puts the availability of biomethane and hydrogen for Germany, from imports and domestic production combined, at 207 to 599 terawatt hours for 2030 and 631 to 1,029 terawatt hours for 2045. The demand it considers indispensable is 49 to 133 terawatt hours for 2030 and 127 to 396 terawatt hours for 2045. The European Hydrogen Backbone initiative expects hydrogen demand of 2,150 to 2,750 terawatt hours in 2050. REPowerEU sets a political target for 2030 of 10 million tonnes each from domestic production and imports, around 665 terawatt hours.

EU ETS 2. The decision is settled, the start date has moved. Council and Parliament postponed the beginning of the trading phase for buildings and road transport from 2027 to 2028, agreed in the procedure amending the European Climate Law. The regulation appeared in the Official Journal on 18 March 2026 and entered into force on 7 April 2026. Reporting obligations for the fuel suppliers concerned are already running. Under the German Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG), a postponement would have linked the price to the ETS 1 price. The third amending act to the BEHG, adopted by the cabinet on 12 August 2026, instead provides that the price corridor of 55 to 65 euros per tonne should also apply in 2027, with the prices for surplus and subsequent purchases each raised by five euros. Parliament and the Bundesrat have yet to decide. For utilities and fuel traders this means two pricing regimes in quick succession, with different reporting, allocation and pass-through mechanisms. At EU level the agreement on the ETS 2 market stability reserve awaits formal adoption, while the procedure on the wider ETS revision, tabled by the Commission on 17 July, runs in parallel.

Sustainable aviation fuels. The quota is fixed, meeting it is not. ReFuelEU Aviation prescribes a blending quota of two per cent for 2025 and six per cent for 2030, including a sub-quota for synthetic fuels of 1.2 per cent averaged over 2030 and 2031. At EU airports in 2024, according to the first annual report by EASA, only 0.6 per cent was reached, equivalent to around 193,000 tonnes. For 2030, projected kerosene consumption implies a requirement of some 3.2 million tonnes. Capacity under construction could cover that volume. For synthetic fuels, by contrast, EASA sees a gap, because several projects have been postponed or abandoned.

In all three cases the figure alone is not a basis for decisions. It becomes usable once you know from which date or threshold it affects a business line, and whether what follows from it is an obligation or a market opportunity.

Our services

Policy screening in your markets and at EU level: We capture the legislative files at EU level and in every national market relevant to you and narrow them down to a shortlist. You receive a regulatory map setting out, for each file, the business line affected, the stage of the procedure, the expected date of application and the source the assessment rests on. The basis is official regulatory documents, expert interviews and market intelligence services.
Classification by business line and legislative stage: A draft at consultation stage calls for a different response than a law about to enter into force, and an opportunity for a different one than an obligation. We classify every file on the shortlist twice, by the business line affected and by the stage of the procedure, from consultation through trilogue and adoption to national transposition, separating compliance obligations from support mechanisms, market access and new business models.
Criteria, thresholds and action triggers: For each file we set the threshold at which it becomes relevant for you, either as an obligation you have to respond to or as a window for a strategic decision. The result is a documented assessment framework your own teams can use to judge new files by the same standard.
Ongoing monitoring and ad hoc assessment: We maintain the triggers in a system that moves with the regulation. You receive a regular report on what has changed since the last one, that is what has been added, what has moved to a new stage, what has fallen away and what follows from this for your business lines. If a decision affecting one of your business lines falls between two reports, we assess it at short notice and give you a recommendation.
Alignment across your functions: The legal department, corporate communications, strategy and the individual business line teams each read the same regulation differently. In one session per business line and one joint round, we work the result through until a single shared assessment stands, and we support the communication to senior management and innovation teams.
Documentation and board papers: We record the decisions and the basis on which they were taken, and summarise the current position and the assessments with their reasoning for your management or supervisory board, so that your judgements remain traceable for auditors as well.

Whether it is a single legislative file or ongoing monitoring across several markets, we will work out with you which regulation actually touches your business lines and which step makes sense next.

Regulatory monitoring for the energy sector

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