A group of 27 organisations including members of the European renewable energy industry, such as SolarPower Europe, WindEurope, as well as NGOs, sent an open letter to the European Commission, on Monday 6 July, calling for the European Union to enact “a clear commitment towards renewable hydrogen as the only ‘Clean hydrogen’” to provide clear guidance and visibility to investors.
As the EU Hydrogen Strategy will be officially unveiled on Wednesday, the signatories of the letter call for it to build on “our flourishing renewables industry to develop a robust and competitive EU electrolyser industry”.
It added: “the sustained deployment of renewables will enable the production of CO2 free and cost-competitive renewable hydrogen - making fossil-based alternatives redundant”.
According to a provisional version of the strategy previously detailed in our lines (see EUROPE 12511/11), the Commission wants to give priority to hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water using electricity from renewable sources (renewable hydrogen).
Nevertheless, it seems to foresee a bridging role for “low-carbon fossil fuel hydrogen”, i.e. hydrogen produced using fossil fuels as a raw material, with CO2 emissions offset by Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies.
See the letter: https://bit.ly/3f4sxzR (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)