The European Commission will present a standalone communication on the strategic outlook for building a “hydrogen economy in Europe”, in parallel with the ‘smart sector integration strategy’ planned for 24 June, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson announced on Tuesday 19 May in a discussion with the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).
“Everyone predicts a great future for hydrogen [...], but that future will not happen without strong political support, in partnership with the private sector”, the Commissioner said, recalling that hydrogen today represents less than 2% of the EU’s energy mix.
According to the Commission, this Communication on hydrogen is a separate initiative from and broader than the ‘European Partnership on Clean Hydrogen’, which is due to be launched this summer on the model of the European Battery Alliance (see EUROPE 12336/6).
Recalling the main points already unveiled in the strategy for the smart sector integration strategy (see EUROPE 12485/11), Mrs Simson said that hydrogen occupies a central place in this strategy. According to her, this gas presents “a strong potential to emerge as a key new energy carrier, a solution to decarbonise particularly difficult sectors like heavy industry and some parts of transport”.
With regard to hydrogen, the smart sector integration strategy will thus seek to: (1) facilitate the innovative use of hydrogen in a number of sectors; (2) increase hydrogen production enough to make it competitive; (3) accelerate research and development to strengthen European industrial leadership in hydrogen.
Furthermore: “This work is very much rooted in the recovery strategy, as hydrogen development could spur growth and jobs, directly and indirectly, and an upswing in investment and innovation”.
In addition to hydrogen, Mrs Simson mentioned two other “work-strands” through which energy policy can, in her view, contribute to post-Covid-19 economic recovery: building renovation and renewable energies.
Renovation. With regard to energy efficiency, the Commissioner assured that her teams are working hard to make the Renovation Wave action plan (see EUROPE 12484/16) “more ambitious and concrete” than was planned before the Covid-19 crisis.
While reaffirming her intention to present the plan in September, she also sought to reassure some MEPs of her commitment to the ‘energy efficiency first principle’.
Renewable energy. On the subject of renewable energy, Mrs Simson stressed the recovery plan’s important contribution to supporting this industry, which is losing momentum due to the coronavirus pandemic.
She then reiterated that, after the summer, she will present a strategy on offshore renewable energies aimed in particular at identifying ways of ensuring the coexistence of new offshore wind turbine projects with other uses of ocean space.
NECP and TEN-E. Furthermore, when questioned by Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA, France) and Morten Petersen (Renew Europe, Denmark) on the forthcoming revision of the TEN-E regulation, the Commissioner did not provide any information beyond what is contained in the initiative’s roadmap (see EUROPE 12485/10).
Finally, the Commissioner said that she will only be able to present the assessment of the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) after the summer, as three Member States’ plans (Germany, Luxembourg and Ireland) have still not been submitted to the Commission. Without naming them, the Estonian again called on these Member States to submit their NECPs as soon as possible (see EUROPE 12480/18). (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)