As part of the activities dedicated to “Synergies with existing Hydrogen Valleys”, the Castilla y León Hydrogen Valley (CyLH2 Valley), together with its partner Lhyfe, has been building a structured dialogue with other European Hydrogen Valleys to turn experience into practical knowledge for project development. This effort took shape in a first series of webinars held in the last quarter of 2025, which brought together coordinators and key actors from initiatives across Europe from Spain, France and the Netherlands to Greece, Ireland and the Baltic region.
Those early exchanges offered CyLH2 Valley partners a first-hand look at how other valleys are tackling organisational, technical, financial and regulatory challenges. They also helped refine common priorities for the next phase of the project and strengthened synergies among initiatives facing similar hurdles, feeding into the broader collaboration roadmap being developed within CyLH2 Valley project.
Building on this foundation, the project has now launched a second series of more focused, thematic sessions, branded as “Learning Capsules”, running throughout 2026. These are designed to zoom in on concrete topics that are critical for the design and deployment of hydrogen valley projects. The first of these sessions, held online on 5 February 2026, was dedicated to “Certification of Clean Hydrogen and Derivatives and the link with measures supporting their uptake.”
Why certification matters for hydrogen valleys
The webinar marked the start of a deeper exploration of the regulatory, technical and operational framework conditions shaping Europe’s hydrogen market. Its objective was clear: to help CyLH2 partners better understand what it takes to certify RFNBO and low-carbon hydrogen, what this implies for project design and operations, and how certification ultimately determines access to markets and support schemes.
The session brought together contributions from project coordination, certification bodies, industry and European-level stakeholders. Ismael Lozano Gabarre, Coordinator of CyLH2 at CARTIF, and Alice Ruczinski, Head of Funding Development at Lhyfe, opened the discussion by setting the scene: certification is a core element of any hydrogen project aiming to operate in compliance markets and benefit from national and European support mechanisms aiming at supporting this emerging market ramp-up and enabling massive decarbonisation projects in the transport and industry sector.
A first block of the webinar focused on the regulatory and policy landscape. Ana Sánchez Levono, Technical Officer for Guarantees of Origin at Enagás presented the Spanish system of Guarantees of Origin for Renewable Gases and explained how renewable hydrogen, including RFNBOs, is integrated into this framework. Her intervention highlighted how Spain’s existing system can serve as a solid basis for aligning with emerging EU-level requirements.
This was followed by an update on the transposition of RED III in Spain, with contributions from José Manuel Vaca Fierro, Project Manager at AeH2, who outlined the current state of play and the expected evolution of the regulatory framework. A wider European perspective was then provided by Grzegorz Pawelec, Director for Regulatory & Market Intelligence at Hydrogen Europe, who shared examples of measures being implemented in other EU countries and discussed their implications for market development and investment conditions.
Inside the RFNBO certification process
The second part of the webinar zoomed in on the practicalities of certification. Sébastien Galand, Head of Marketing and Communication at CertifHy, together with Marie Pensalfini, Stakeholder Platform Manager at CertifHy, provided a detailed walkthrough of how the RFNBO certification scheme is implemented and how compliance is checked in practice: from the roles of the different actors involved, to the certification steps, traceability requirements along the product life cycle, and methodologies for carbon intensity calculation and GHG avoidance.
A key message emerging from this session was that technical rules, such as additionality, temporal correlation and geographical correlation, are not abstract regulatory concepts. They directly shape project design choices today and will become even more stringent with the move towards hourly matching in 2030. In parallel, the rules for low-carbon fuels (LCF), adopted in November 2025, are expected to be translated into certification schemes in the coming months.
The discussion was grounded in real-world experience through the intervention of Etienne Gay, Funding and Power Sourcing Specialist at Lhyfe, who shared its own certification journey. The company described how it set up mass-balance systems, renewable electricity tracking and GHG accounting, and how certified RFNBO hydrogen is already being monetised in different national contexts, such as in France through TIRUERT and in Germany via the GHG quota system. This concrete example helped illustrate both the complexity of the process and the tangible business implications and benefits of getting certification right.
Key takeaways for CyLH2 partners
Several clear messages emerged from the exchanges. First, certification is not an administrative formality: it is a decisive factor for market access, premium pricing and eligibility for national and European support instruments (subsidies, tax incentives, premiums etc.). Second, uneven implementation of RED III across Member States continues to create differentiated market conditions, making regulatory monitoring a strategic necessity for project developers. Third, robust internal systems, covering mass-balance tracking, data traceability and GHG accounting, are essential, and early pre-certification can help avoid costly redesigns later in the project lifecycle.
As one of the speakers put it during the discussion, certification ultimately “determines the economic value of hydrogen,” while another stressed that understanding rules on additionality, correlation and GHG accounting early on can save significant time and resources down the line.
Looking ahead
The main conclusion of this first Learning Capsule is clear: certification readiness needs to be embedded from the very early stages of hydrogen project design. For CyLH2, Spain’s existing system of Guarantees of Origin provides a solid starting point, that is progressively aligned with the rules defined at EU level for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) and low-carbon fuels (LCF) in the framework of the forthcoming RED3 implementation measures in Spain.
Further Learning Capsules will be organised throughout 2026 to continue unpacking regulatory mechanisms, technical requirements and certification strategies, always with a focus on practical implications for hydrogen valley development. In parallel, a written report summarising the insights from these sessions will be prepared and shared among project partners, ensuring that the knowledge exchanged translates into concrete guidance for the next phases of the CyLH2 Valley.
Photo Credits: Sincerely Media on Unsplash
