The revised F-Gas Regulation, (EU) No 517/2014 was published in the Official Journal on the 16^th April 2014. This will repeal the original F-Gas Regulation (EC) 842/2006.

The revised Regulation will come into effect from the 1^st January 2015 and shall apply to all Member States of the EU without exception.

Not all provisions of the Regulation will be effective from that date and many requirements will be phased in over the course of a decade or more.

The main features of the revised F-Gas Regulation

The Regulation establishes the following:

1. Cap and phase-down for the placing on the market of HFCs
2. Bans or restrictions based on GWP of the use of F-Gases in some new equipment, such as refrigerators and air conditioners, insulating foams and technical aerosols
3. Conditions (for example, reporting on quantities of HFCs contained and the need for HFC import quotas) on the placing on the market of products and equipment containing or relying upon F-Gases
4. Future restrictions on servicing/maintenance of equipment using HFCs
5. Rules regarding containment, use, recovery and destruction of HFCs
6. The Regulation will apply from 1^st January 2015

The aim of the agreed Regulation is to reduce F-Gas emissions by two-thirds of today's levels by 2030 and to encourage the use of viable and more climate-friendly alternatives where they are readily available.

The revised Regulation in detail

1. Phase-down steps

   The regulation introduces a phase-down mechanism involving a gradually declining cap on the total placement of bulk HFCs (in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent) on the market in the EU.

   Base line: 2009-2012 average placed on the market into the Union

   Year
   2015	100%
   2016-17	93%
   2018-20	63%
   2021-23	45%
   2024-26	31%
   2027-29	24%
   2030	21%

    

2. Restrictions/Bans

   EQUIPMENT AND APPLICATION BANS ON SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT THAT US F-GASES
   Domestic refrigerators and freezers that contain HFCs with GWP of 150 or more		1st January 2015
   Refrigerators and freezers for commercial use (hermetically sealed systems)	that contain HFCs with GWP of 2500 or more	1st January 2020
   	that contain HFCs with GWP of 150 or more	1st January 2022
   Stationary refrigeration equipment, that contains, or that relies upon for its functioning HFCs with GWP of 2500 or more except equipment intended for application designed to cool products to temperatures below -50oC		1st January 2020
   Multipack centralised refrigeration systems for commercial use with a capacity of 40kW or more that contain, or that rely upon for their functioning, fluorinated greenhouse gases with GWP of 150 or more, except in the primary refrigerant circuit of cascade systems where fluorinated greenhouse gases with a GWP of less than 1500 may be used		1st January 2022
   Movable room air-conditioning appliances (hermetically sealed equipment which is movable between rooms by the end user) that contain HFCs with GWP of 150 or more		1st January 2020
   Single split air-conditioning systems containing less than 3kg of fluorinated greenhouse gases, that contain, or that rely upon for their functioning, fluorinated greenhouse gases with GWP of 750 or more		1st January 2025
   Foams that contain HFCs with GWP of 150 or more except when required to meet national safety standards	Extruded polystyrene (XPS)	1st January 2020
   	Other foams	1st January 2023
   Technical aerosols that contain HFCs with GWP of 150 or more, except when required to meet national safety standards or when used for medical applications		1st January 2018

    

3. HFC Import quota

   The Commission shall allocate quotas for placing HFCs on the market for each producer and importer for each year beginning with the year 2015 applying the allocation mechanism laid down in Annex VI.

   The reference values for the producers and importers will be re-calculated by 31^st October 2017 and every three years after that on the basis of the annual average of the quantities of HFCs lawfully placed on the market after 1^st January 2015 as reported under Article 17 for the years available.

   Each producer/importer will receive a quota corresponding to 89% of the reference value multiplied by the percentage. The remaining percentage will cover imports from newly registered importers and HFCs that are imported in equipment.

    

4. Servicing and maintenance restrictions

   A number of provisions on servicing have been introduced as follows:

   • The use of fluorinated greenhouse gases with a GWP > 2500 to service or maintain refrigeration equipment with a charge size of 40 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent or more shall be prohibited from 1^st January 2020. This provision shall not apply to military equipment or equipment intended for applications designed to cool products to temperatures below -50^oC.
     
     The maximum allowable charge weights for some of the popular high GWP refrigerants are illustrated below:
     
     

     Refrigerant	GWP	Max. Charge Size (40 tonnes CO2 equivalent)
     R404A	3922	10.2kg
     R507A	3985	10.0kg
     R422A (Isceon® 79)	3143	12.7kg
     R422D (Isceon® 29)	2729	14.6kg
     R434A (RS-45)	3245	12.3kg

      

   • Until 1^st January 2030, this provision shall not apply to reclaimed fluorinated greenhouse gases with a GWP > 2500 used for the maintenance or servicing of existing refrigeration equipment, provided that they have been labelled in accordance with Article 10 (4a) to Article 9 (3).
   • Until 1^st January 2030 this provision shall not apply to recycled fluorinated greenhouse gases with a GWP > 2500 used for the maintenance or servicing of existing refrigeration equipment provided they have been recovered from such equipment. Such recycled gases may only be used by the undertaking which carried out their recovery as part of maintenance or servicing or the undertaking for which the recovery was carried out as part of maintenance or servicing.

    

5. Leak Checks

   From the 1^st January 2015, operators of equipment that contains fluorinated greenhouse gases in quantities of 5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent or more and not contained in foams shall ensure that the equipment is checked for leaks. This applies to operators of stationary refrigeration equipment, stationary air conditioning equipment, stationary heat pumps, stationary fire protection equipment, refrigeration units of refrigerated trucks and trailers and organic Rankine cycles.

   Tonnes CO2 equivalent charge weight	Frequency of inspection	Frequency if leak detection equipment fitted	Leak detection equipment mandatory
   ≥ 5 and ≤ 50	Every 12 months	Every 24 months	No
   ≥ 50 and ≤ 500	Every 6 months	Every 12 months	No
   ≥ 500	Every 3 months	Every 6 months	Yes
   Hermetic systems ≤ 10	None	None	No

    

   For some of the commonly used HFC refrigerants this equates to the following kg charge weights.

   Tonnes CO2 equivalent charge weight	Between 5 & 50 tonnes	Between 50 & 500 tonnes	Greater than 500 tonnes
   Frequency of inspection	Every 12 months	Every 6 months	Every 3 months
   R404A	1.27 kg to 12.7 kg	12.7 kg to 127.4 kg	Greater than 127.4 kg
   R407A	2.37 kg to 23.7 kg	23.7kg to 237.3 kg	Greater than 237.3 kg
   R410A	2.39 kg to 23.9 kg	23.9 kg to 239.5 kg	Greater than 239.5 kg
   R407C	2.81 kg to 28.1 kg	28.1 kg to 281.8 kg	Greater than 281.8 kg
   R134a	3.49 kg to 34.9 kg	34.9 kg to 349.6 kg	Greater than 349.6 kg
   Note: By way of derogation, until 31st December 2016, equipment that contains less than 3 kg of fluorinated greenhouse gases or hermetically sealed equipment, which is labelled accordingly and contains less than 6 kg of fluorinated greenhouse gases shall not be subject to leak checks.

    

6. Labelling

   From the 1^st January 2017, RAC equipment placed on the market containing F-Gases shall be labelled with a reference that the equipment contains fluorinated greenhouse gases, the name of the refrigerant, the quantity of gas expressed in kg and CO2 equivalent along with the GWP value of the refrigerant.

   Typical indicative labelling for a system containing 8kg of R407A might be as follows:

   Contains fluorinated greenhouse gases
   Refrigerant: R407A
   R407A GWP value = 2107
   System charge weight = 8kg
   System CO2 equivalent charge weight = 16.86 tonnes

    

7. Import of equipment rules/Traceability

   A detailed traceability process has been established for the import of equipment containing HFCs. From 1st January 2017 refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment charged with HFCs shall not be placed on the market unless the HFCs charged into this equipment are accounted for within the HFC quota system. An annual declaration of conformity by equipment manufacturers/producers, verified by an external auditor, is required.

    

8. Review clauses

   • 1^st July 2017: Report on the Annex III, point 11b (the multipack centralized systems) to see if alternatives are available and viable.
   • Report assessing the quota allocation method, including the impact of grandfathering and the costs of implementing this Regulation in Member States and of a possible international agreement on HFCs.
   • In view of this, a legislative proposal may be presented to amend the quota allocation method (fees, auctioning, etc)
   • 1^st July 2020: Report on Annex III, single split AC and the availability of alternatives
   • 31^st December 2020: Report on the availability of HFCs on the Union market
   • 31^st December 2022: A comprehensive report on the effects of this Regulation

    

For any queries you may have regarding this legislation or indeed any information you may require regarding the entire portfolio of products supplied by Harp International Limited, please contact:

Dewi Garcia MSc, MInstR
Technical Services Manager
Harp International Limited

Tel: 07836 671673
e-mail: dgarcia@harpintl.com

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