European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week that “hydrogen can be a game changer for Europe”, and it seems the EU is accepting the challenge. A slew of measures and support schemes for the green gas have recently been announced.
The European Commission yesterday approved “Hy2Use”, an Important Project of Common European Interest, following the earlier approval of Hy2Tech in July this year. Thirteen Member States will provide up to €5.2 billion in public funding to support research and innovation, industrial deployment and infrastructure construction for hydrogen value chains. An additional €7 billion in private investment is expected to be unlocked by this.
Besides this state aid intended to boost the supply of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen, von der Leyen announced last week in her State of the Union speech the creation of a European Hydrogen Bank. Further, the EU Parliament approved the removal of the additionality requirements for the production of renewable hydrogen and other RFNBOs, facilitating and incentivising their production to a great extent.
Overall, the European hydrogen market is a hot topic. The EU is certainly looking to boost the market, by alleviating the risks that hydrogen projects entail and by creating a stable market infrastructure, to help reduce European dependency on Russian gas and overcome the current energy crisis.
ELS Analysis is following the latest policy developments on hydrogen, particularly possible support schemes and opportunities for industry participants to leverage them.
