European Union takes important decisions for hydrogen

1. EU moves forward with target for 40% of electrolysers to be made in Europe

The European Parliament (EP) and European Council (made up of ministers from the 27 member states) agreed a provisional deal on the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), first tabled by the European Commission (EC) in March last year, which lists green hydrogen production as a “strategic industry”.

This means suppliers for renewable H2 projects will be allowed access to streamlined permitting and other regulatory perks in order to boost manufacturing capability — with the end goal of 40% of total electrolyser (and other green H2 equipment) deployment being “Made In Europe”.

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2. EU green-lights €7bn in hydrogen infrastructure subsidies from seven member states

Seven EU member states are set to shell out billions of euros to deploy hydrogen infrastructure in the bloc, after the European Commission (EC) today (Thursday) gave the so-called “Hy2Infra” programme the green light to proceed. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Slovakia are to spend a collective €6.9bn ($7.4bn) to support 32 companies in their delivery of 33 inter-operable projects, including a total of 3.2GW of electrolysers.

Hy2Infra is the third hydrogen-related Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) to be approved by the EC, and the biggest so far, following on from the €5.4bn “Hy2Tech” programme focusing on demand-side H2 technologies, announced in July 2022, and the €5.2bn “Hy2Use” for industrial hydrogen applications announced in September 2022.

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