In this overview
- What exactly is an ERE?
- ERE or HBE: what changed in 2026
- The six ERE types and the sector codes
- Who can earn EREs?
- How much do EREs pay?
- How do you register EREs?
- Which rules and deadlines apply?
- On your own or via an ERE service provider?
- Frequently asked questions
What exactly is an ERE?
The NEa defines an ERE like this: “1 ERE represents 1 kg CO2eq emission reduction across the chain relative to an EU-set fossil reference value.” Put simply: it looks at how much CO₂ you save compared with fossil energy. For electricity, that uses a reference value of 183 g CO₂eq/MJ. Your meter reading, for example how many kWh you charged, is the starting point of the calculation. How many EREs you end up with depends on how much fossil emission you avoided.
So why does the market call it a certificate? Because you can own an ERE and pass it on. Worth being clear about, though: it is not a document, paper or proof of anything, but a unit held in an account in the REV, like a balance on your bank account.
The charging session itself has no market value; the registered and validated EREs that come out of it do. Such an emission reduction unit can change hands. Fuel suppliers that fall under the fuel transition obligation (BTV, the Dutch renewable-transport duty) buy EREs to meet their legal duty. They can also earn them themselves, by charging vehicles or supplying biofuels.
That creates a market where parties earn EREs by delivering renewable energy to transport, then sell them to parties that need EREs to meet their obligations. That mechanism helps the Netherlands meet its national and European CO₂ targets.
Just want the core definition? Read what an ERE exactly is in brief, or look up the term ERE in our glossary.
ERE or HBE: what changed in 2026
Until early 2026 the Netherlands used HBEs (Renewable Fuel Units), the predecessor of EREs. Since 1 January 2026, HBEs have been replaced by EREs. That change follows the introduction of RED III (Renewable Energy Directive III), the European directive behind the system.
The main difference is in how the units are calculated. HBEs were about the amount of renewable energy delivered to transport. EREs are based on the CO₂ emission avoided across the whole chain relative to the fossil reference. So it no longer looks only at how much renewable energy you deliver, but above all at how much emission you save with it.
A common question is how EREs relate to HBEs. There is no simple conversion, because the basis shifted from energy content to CO₂ reduction. If you still hold an HBE balance, one one-off rule applies: on 1 May 2026 the NEa multiplied those balances by 46, so one saved HBE became 46 ERE. That 46 comes from the HBE reduction contribution of 47 kg per HBE, minus the contribution of cleaner fossil. It applies specifically to the conversion of HBE-Other into ERE-Other; treat 46 as a one-off transition factor for saved balances, not as a standing exchange rate between HBE and ERE.
Want every difference between EREs and HBEs? See HBE vs. ERE: all the differences in a row.
The six ERE types and the sector codes
There is not one type of ERE. There are six, depending on the energy source, each with its own registration unit. For charging electric vehicles, the ERE-E is the relevant one. But anyone thinking only of electricity misses the larger part of the system.
| Type | Energy source |
|---|---|
| ERE-E | Renewable electricity delivered to transport |
| ERE-G | Advanced biofuels (feedstocks from Annex IX, Part A of the directive) |
| ERE-R | RFNBOs: renewable fuels of non-biological origin (such as hydrogen and e-fuels) |
| ERE-B | Liquid and gaseous biofuels from used vegetable or animal oils and fats (Annex IX, Part B) |
| ERE-C | Conventional biofuels from agricultural or energy crops |
| ERE-O | Other biofuels (including intermediate crops and residues from food and feed processing), and for 2026 only the converted HBE-Os |
Note: ERE-R stands specifically for RFNBOs, such as renewable hydrogen and e-fuels. It is not a catch-all for everything that is not electricity. The biofuels have their own types (ERE-G, ERE-B, ERE-C and ERE-O), and for those types there can be rules on how much must at least, or may at most, count toward the fuel transition obligation. For ERE-E, the category that matters for electric vehicles, no such minimum or maximum limits apply.
Every ERE credit also carries a sector code. It shows which transport sector the CO₂ reduction counts in: LRE for land, BRE for inland shipping and ZRE for maritime. Carrying EREs into a following year is subject to a saving limit; EREs above that limit expire after the annual close on 1 April. An ERE-E for the land sector (LRE-E), for instance, cannot be used in other sectors.
Who can earn EREs?
In principle, anyone who demonstrably delivers renewable energy to transport can earn ERE credits, from a logistics depot with e-trucks to a private individual with a charge point at home. How you organise it depends on how many kWh you deliver to electric vehicles.
Want to register EREs yourself? Then you must charge 2 million kWh per year or hold your own registration facility. If you do not reach that volume, you register your ERE credits through an ERE service provider. Such a provider takes on the data collection, validation, registration of EREs, trading and payout.
For a provider that registers electricity from private individuals, for example people charging their EV at home, a different threshold applies: obtaining a mandate from at least 200 private individuals, that is, their permission to register on their behalf.
What does that mean in practice? You have two options:
- As a business with high charging volume (logistics, fleets, real estate and CPOs) you can register ERE credits independently once you reach 2 million kWh, or outsource it to an ERE service provider.
- As a private individual you can work with an ERE service provider. How that works is covered in earning money with your charge point (home charging).
Important: you do not have to own a charge point. What matters is that you own (or are mandated via) the grid connection (EAN) or allocation point, and that the charging sessions are measured correctly. Usually that measurement runs through an MID-certified charge point; at fast chargers or charging hubs sometimes via a secondary allocation point (SAP).
Do I qualify? Not sure whether your situation meets the threshold and the metering requirements? See registering for EREs and you will know in a few steps whether registering is worthwhile for you.
How much do EREs pay?
How much you can earn with ERE credits depends on two things: how many EREs you build up, and what one ERE is worth. The first is largely in your own hands, through the origin of your electricity.
Charging on grid power? Then not all of the charged electricity counts as renewable. For 2026, the CBS (Statistics Netherlands) set grid power at 50.5% renewable: the share of renewable electricity in the Netherlands two years earlier. That share also applies to home chargers, even with solar panels on the roof.
Why does that hold even with solar panels on the roof? The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management explains it like this: locally generated power only counts if it is delivered to the charge point via a direct line or as generation at the same location. With home charging, the power in practice usually runs via the grid, so the grid average (50.5%) is used. The ministry adds that the ERE system is not intended to stimulate solar panels. So it is a deliberate choice, not a design flaw.
But there is a route to 100%. If you generate renewable power at the delivery location (or supply it via a direct line), and can prove that the charging happens simultaneously with that generation, then that power can count as fully renewable. Under those conditions the registrable volume nearly doubles compared with the grid average.
Two hard conditions come with it:
- a Guarantee of Origin (GvO) for non-grid delivery matching the size of the registration;
- no operating subsidy (such as SDE++) over the registration period. A statement from the RVO that no subsidy was granted in that period is sufficient.
You need hourly data for both the charging sessions and your own generation. Because of that extra administration and cost, the 100% route usually only becomes worthwhile for businesses charging roughly 100 MWh and generating 100 MWh themselves per year.
We work out the difference between grid charging and the 100% route in full in the overview earning money with EREs.
The second factor, the value of an ERE, is market-dependent: the price is set by supply and demand among fuel suppliers and traders. That is why Voltico never states a fixed payout as a promise.
What could your charging volume yield? Calculate your ERE yield with the tool. The tool works with your charging volume and your power origin: not a fixed promise, but a substantiated estimate.
How do you register EREs?
Registering is the process of having your delivered kWh converted into EREs in an account in the REV. For that you must be able to show how much electricity was actually delivered to transport and where it came from: the NEa requires validated, attributable charging data. Manual or estimated exports are not forbidden, but they raise the risk of errors and fraud. That is why it matters that your charging data is checked properly, so the registration passes the annual verification.
The four key requirements in a row:
- Metering. Since 1 January 2026, the delivered amount of electricity is measured via an MID-certified meter integrated into the charge point, or via a separately metered allocation point (SAP). A standalone MID meter in the meter cupboard no longer qualifies. Businesses that registered before 2026 with an external meter get a transition year: the requirement applies to them from 1 January 2027. For private individuals there is no transition year. Metering is a legal burden of proof, not a choice.
- Data quality. Reliable, per-session attributable data is the basis. A fixed connection (API or OCPP) reduces the chance of errors; manual exports are allowed but demand heavier checking.
- Guarantee of Origin. For the 100% route you need a GvO for non-grid delivery matching the size of the registration. Those GvOs are transferred to the NEa’s account in the VertiCer register.
- Mandate for registration in the REV. On the basis of your mandate to an ERE service provider, the validated kWh are booked as EREs into an account in the Register of Energy for Transport.
Whether your charge point is ERE-ready mainly comes down to the meter. The full step plan from mandate to payout is in registering for EREs.
Which rules and deadlines apply?
ERE credits are the engine of the fuel transition obligation (BTV), the Dutch implementation of the European directive RED III. The BTV requires at least 14.5% less greenhouse gas emission from transport fuels by 2030. For ERE demand, the annual obligation matters most: it rises from 14.4% in 2026 to 28.4% in 2030, across three sectors: land, inland shipping and maritime.
The system runs on an obligation for fuel suppliers. Each year they must make a certain share of their delivered fuel more sustainable and prove it with EREs in their account. If you deliver renewable energy to transport and have it registered, you produce exactly the EREs those suppliers need. That is where supply and demand meet.
Two annual deadlines are hard:
- Before 1 March: the fuel and electricity deliveries to transport from the previous calendar year must be registered in the REV.
- Before 1 April: obligated parties, such as fuel suppliers, must hold enough EREs in their REV account to meet the BTV.
So registering and trading must happen well before these dates, because a whole calendar year’s administration has to be complete on time. The background to the directive is in RED III and the fuel transition obligation, and the full annual overview in the ERE timeline 2026–2027.
On your own or via an ERE service provider?
Registering on your own is possible, but only under conditions. You reach the threshold of 2 million kWh per year, and you make the full burden of proof watertight yourself: the metering, the data quality, the GvOs for the 100% route, the registration in the REV and the trading. For most businesses and charging locations that is a heavy administrative and compliance load.
The risk is in the details. Registering is voluntary, but not without obligation: duties come with it, and the data is checked closely. Manual or estimated data is not forbidden, but makes errors and incorrect registrations easier. If a registration does not pass the annual verification, the NEa can determine the case on its own authority and move to correction demands and hefty fines.
An ERE service provider such as Voltico takes registration over from start to finish: data collection, validation, registration in the REV, trading and payout. And it carries the responsibility that the registration passes the checks. The value is not in nice promises, but in compliance certainty: delivered kWh that actually end up as awarded, tradable EREs.
Curious what an ERE service provider can do for you? Here is how Voltico’s ERE service provider works for your type of location, from the data connection to the payout.
What Voltico does for you here
Voltico takes over the whole process for you: the data connection, the validation, the registration in the REV, the trading and the periodic payout. You pay a service fee on what has been sold, never upfront, and your proceeds sit separately in a third-party account.