The European Commission should estimate how long and how much low-carbon hydrogen would be needed to decarbonise the European Union’s energy system pending the large-scale deployment of renewable hydrogen, argues MEP Jens Geier (S&D, Germany) in his draft own-initiative report, published on Tuesday 10 November, on the EU’s hydrogen strategy.
Adopted by the Commission on 8 July, the EU Strategy for Hydrogen foresees a role for low-carbon hydrogen - defined as fossil hydrogen with carbon capture and electrical hydrogen with significantly reduced life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to existing hydrogen production - in the future European energy mix (see EUROPE 12523/1).
While the strategy stresses that this form of hydrogen is intended to be gradually replaced by renewable hydrogen, i.e. hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water using electricity from renewable energy sources, it does not give any precise indication of the time frame needed before this transition takes place.
However, there are fears that the transitional role thus left to low-carbon hydrogen could lead the EU into a lock-in of natural gas projects to the detriment of a massive and rapid development of renewable hydrogen (see EUROPE 12525/23).
In addition, the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has recently published a report according to which most of the European Union’s gas transmission networks are not yet ready to transport hydrogen (see EUROPE 12526/22).
In his draft report, Mr Geier thus encourages the Commission and the Member States to assess the possibility of reusing existing pipelines for the transport of renewable hydrogen “in order to maximise cost efficiency and minimise investment costs and levelised costs of transmission ”.
Sharing the Commission’s position that hydrogen should only be used in sectors where direct electrification is not technologically or economically feasible, the rapporteur also calls for increased efforts to develop renewable energies and to abolish taxes and levies on renewable electricity.
Finally, the draft report welcomes the fact that the Commission is considering the introduction of renewable hydrogen use quotas in specific sectors (e.g. certain industries such as the chemical sector or transport applications) as well as Carbon Contracts for Difference to promote the demand for renewable hydrogen in the EU.
According to our information, Mr Geier will present his draft report to the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) on 1 December, with a view to a vote in March. The deadline for tabling amendments is 10 December.
See the draft report: https://bit.ly/2Iwa0kG (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)