Today, President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič hosted the 1st of a series of Clean Transition Dialogues, which focused on hydrogen with European Commission officials engaging with representatives from the entire H2 value chain.
Hydrogen Europe CEO Jorgo Chatzimarkakis also participated in this important meeting which tackled the EU Green Deal implementation and the decarbonisation of European industry. The main conclusions were:
➡ We need to ensure a consistent hydrogen supply. There should initially be a technology diverse approach to production, with a gradual greening regarding the objectives of the legislative framework.
➡ The existing legal framework should be used as a robust basis to convince investors. Legal guidance should be offered to Member States in how to apply the legislation. This could be done by a question-and-answer exercise.
➡ There is an unprecedented financing need, something up to around 570bn by 2030 if the 10 million tons of green hydrogen are to be produced.
➡ In order to get there, the Hydrogen Bank needs to serve as a one-stop shop; simplifying and accelerating procedures, allowing communication and de-risking the business with the help of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the other public national banks.
➡ In order to have bankable projects, private banks need to be satisfied by a de-risking strategy. The Commission will try to identify and centralise all usable funding schemes.
➡ EU initiated #greenbonds under the scheme of a green capital market union should be established very soon.
➡ The pilot auction in November for the Hydrogen Bank should pave the way but needs to be quickly followed by other actions which are adapted to the needs of the market.
➡ To build up domestic capacity, building an EU value chain in critical technology will be key!
➡ Permitting procedures need to be simplified at EU level and, with the help of industry, at Member State level.
➡ Energy prices and especially electricity prices need to be brought down. The electricity market design should be adapted accordingly.
➡ Europe needs a clear critical raw materials strategy for the hydrogen industry.
➡ We need an aggregation of demand. The existing joint purchasing exercise in the gas sector can be used as a good experience to build upon and to be integrated into the Hydrogen Bank activities.
➡ Storage has to be prioritised with regards to the extension of the grid and the corresponding investments.
