Europe isn’t sufficiently exploring domestic potential for hydrogen production – report
Clean Energy Wire
There’s a large imbalance between current investment and the potential for cheap hydrogen production in individual European regions, according to a new report. Regions with high potential to produce low-cost renewable power could largely meet Europe's demand for hydrogen in future, according to the report's authors. However, investments in these regions are currently low compared to Germany, which will be an importer of hydrogen in future despite its ambitious targets to expand domestic production. The report was a collaborative effort between the Fraunhofer ISI, RIFS Potsdam and the German energy agency (dena). Five recommendations were made as part of it to improve the funding imbalance. Among those recommendations were scaling up EU-level funding for hydrogen, enabling cross-border auctions for green hydrogen and setting national expansion targets for renewable electricity across all EU states.
Earlier this year, Germany's coalition government comprised of the Social Democrats (SPD), Green Party and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), updated the country's National Hydrogen Strategy, doubling the 2030 target for domestic capacity of electrolysers to produce clean hydrogen. Robert Habeck, Germany's economy and climate minister, alongside European Commissioner for energy Kadri Simson recently called on EU member states to join the ‘H2 Global’ initiative in a bid to strengthen the bloc’s hydrogen purchasing power
