Member states loosen F-gas revision proposals
7th April 2023
EUROPE: The EU Council of Ministers has taken a more relaxed approach to the F-gas regulations, easing the quota step down and pushing back some of the proposed product bans.
On Wednesday, COREPER, composed of the permanent representatives from each member state, agreed to postpone a number of bans compared to the Commission’s proposal, mainly for heat pumps. More specifically, it proposes to impose an earlier ban on air-to-water systems, for which alternatives are more widely available, and a later ban for air-to-air systems, where it Is more difficult to use alternatives.
With proposals now in from the European Commission, the European Parliament and Council of Ministers, the so-called trilogue negotiations can begin to determine the final F-gas regulation amendment.
Specifically, the Council of Minister’s position is for:
A ban on any stationary self-contained refrigeration equipment that contains F-gases with a GWP of 150 or more (except when required to meet safety requirements) from 1 January 2025;
A ban on plug-in room and other self-contained air-conditioning and heat pumps (including all heat pumps in monobloc construction) with a maximum rated capacity of 50kW that contain F-gases with GWP of 150 or more, except when required to meet safety requirements, from 1 January 2027.
(When safety requirements would not allow using fluorinated greenhouse gases with GWP of 150 or less, the GWP limit would be 750);
A ban on all plug-in AC and heat pump equipment operating on F-gas with a GWP greater than 150, except when required to meet safety requirements, from 1 January 2030.
(When safety requirements would not allow using fluorinated greenhouse gases with GWP of 150 or less, the GWP limit would be 750);
A ban on single-splits using less than 3kg of HFCs with a GWP of 750 or more from 1 January 2025;
A ban on air-to-water split systems with a rated capacity of up to and including 12 kW, operating on HFCs with a GWP of 150 or more (except when required to meet safety requirements) from 1 January 2027;
A ban on air-to-air split systems with a capacity of up to and including 12kW and operating on HFCs with GWP of 150 or more (except when required to meet safety requirements) from 1 January 2029;
A ban on split systems with capacities of more than 12kW, operating on HFCs with GWP over 750 (except when required to meet safety requirements) from 1 January 2029;
A ban on split systems over 12kW, operating on HFCs with a GWP over 150 (except when required to meet safety requirements) from 1 January 2033.
Significantly, it makes a distinction in the bans between HFCs (as listed in Annex 1) and “fluorinated greenhouse gases”, referring to HFCs and HFOs.
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