Allocation application 2024 for new market players (ZDB)
Last update
24/02/2025
Operators of installations that participate in the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS 1) as new entrants can apply for free allocation. On this page, we provide information on how to submit an application for operators of installations for which amended allocation rules will apply from 2024.
In 2024, the allocation regulations were amended - by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/873 of 30/01/2024 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 (hereinafter Amendment Regulation 2024/873). According to Art. 2 of the amending Regulation 2024/873, the new rules will apply to some installations from 2024 and to all other installations from 2026. From 2024, the new rules will already apply to
for installations whose emission permit was issued after 30/06/2019 and which commenced operation in 2023 or 2024 and
for installations that become subject to emissions trading retroactively from 01/01/2024 after the amended TEHG comes into force, due to the extension of the scope of Directive 2003/87 (Emissions Trading Directive) by Directive (EU) 2023/959.
The following information applies exclusively to the aforementioned installations.
Allocation application
Before you can apply for an allocation for the year 2024, you must have submitted a monitoring plan to DEHSt for approval and prepared a verified emissions report for the year 2024.
To apply for an allocation under the new allocation rules, we provide special FMS applications for the methodology plan and for the application data. You must first create and then edit a methodology plan in the FMS, on the basis of which you can then generate an allocation application in the FMS application ‘Allocation application 2024 for new entrants (ZDB)’. Detailed assistance on the new FMS applications ‘Methodology plan’ and ‘Allocation application 2024 for new entrants (ZDB)’ can be found in the information paper ‘EU-ETS 1: Zuteilungsantrag 2024 für neue Marktteilnehmer’.
The old allocation regulations still apply for 2023. If you started operations in 2023 and would still like to send us data for the 2023 reporting year, please use the FMS application ‘Allocation data report 2021-2025’ for methods and data from 2023.
All parts of the guidelines that are relevant for the above-mentioned installations from 2024 onwards are listed below. With the guidance document ‘EU ETS 1: Allocation application 2024 for new entrants’, we provide special instructions for the application and use of the new FMS applications. Although all other parts of the guidelines relate primarily to the period 2026 to 2030 (2nd allocation period of the 4th trading period), the regulations will apply to the installations mentioned from 2024 onwards.
Notification paper for affected installations, applicable regulations and application procedure
We hereby explain the procedure for applying for free allocation for installations to which the amended allocation regulations will already apply from 2024. We will guide you through the application process with this notification paper and the references it contains to the parts of the 2026 to 2030 allocation guidelines listed below.
Part 3a supports operators when considering cross-boundary heat flows in allocation applications. This guideline addresses the following topics:
Definitions
The principle of allocation rules for excess cross-boundary heat flow from the installation
Consideration of the heat supply to/from heat networks
Requirements and evidence for the recognition of heat supplies as district heating and heat consumption for sectors deemed exposed to carbon leakage
Explanation of the allocation rules based on case studies
This part of the guideline aims to help identify the heat quantity required for the heat balance in the Forms Management System (FMS), especially in the case of cross-boundary heat flows. In addition, the definitions also help with the correct specification of the data required for updating the benchmarks.
Part 3b of the guideline describes the rules for determining the historical activity levels and the allocation rules for waste gases, the allocation for emissions from safety flares and waste gas balance. Four case studies from the sugar industry, the iron and steel sector, on a chemical production plant and on a ‘complex installation’ from Part 2 of the guideline describe and clarify the aspects around the origin and use of waste gases.
Part 3c provides support for the application of one or more sub-installations with product benchmarks in allocation applications. It addresses the following points:
Definition of the product benchmark
Benchmark number according to the European Commission’s Guidance Document No. 9
Carbon leakage status between 2021 and 2030
Associated activity under Annex I of the the German Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowance Trading Act (TEHG)
Special regulations
Definition of the product unit
Definition and explanation of products with product benchmarks
Definition and explanation of the associated processes and emissions
Part 4 of the guideline is based on Guidance Document No. 4 on the harmonised free allocation methodology for the EU-ETS post 2020 – Verification of FAR Baseline Data Reports and Validation of Monitoring Methodology Plans of the European Commission, which was published in February 2019.
This guideline is primarily aimed at verifiers and applies to the verification of allocation applications for the fourth trading period and particularly for the first time that the allocation procedure is undertaken for the 2021-2025 period.
Here you will find the set of forms „Erklärung über die Verwendung von Wärme bei Wärmekunden“ and „Erklärung über die Verwendung von Wärme aus einem Wärmenetz“. It can help you to obtain the necessary information for the verification of district heating and the production of carbon leakage-prone products from your heating network operator or from your heating customers.
Here you will find Excel tools valid for the second allocation period for certain allocation elements with product emission value, which you must attach to your application. Further information on this can be found in the guidance document Part 3c.
