The pilot phase of the ‘European Hydrogen Bank’ will start next year with a system of contract for differences (CfDs) under the ‘Innovation Fund’, said European Commission Executive Vice-President for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, on Tuesday 25 October, in a speech at the EU Hydrogen Week 2022.
The objective of the contracts for differences will be to cover 100% of the cost differential compared to hydrogen produced in the EU from fossil fuels without greenhouse gas capture (grey hydrogen).
Announced in September by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech, the ‘European Hydrogen Bank’ will aim to invest €3 billion to help build the future hydrogen market.
Mr Timmermans also reaffirmed the goal of producing 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen on EU soil by 2030 and importing the same amount.
To this end, the Vice-President has high hopes for the Mediterranean Basin, because of its potential for renewable energy (solar in particular) to produce hydrogen.
“I honestly believe that around the Mediterranean is the core of the transition in our energy systems and in the Industrial Revolution that is coming”, he said, calling for a “wartime mentality” to be adopted in order to make the EU’s energy transition a success. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)