Hydrogen industry calls for EU auction to accelerate renewable marine fuels
A new coalition of 23 shipping, hydrogen and e-fuel stakeholders, the e-Sustainable Marine Fuels (e-SMF) Early Movers Initiative, is urging European governments to accelerate the deployment of renewable hydrogen-based marine fuels through dedicated support mechanisms. The coalition argues that green hydrogen-derived fuels such as e-methanol and e-ammonia are essential for decarbonising shipping, but high production costs, uncertain demand and fragmented supply chains continue to delay investment and market uptake. In a newly released joint position paper, the initiative calls for two key policy actions. In the short term, national governments should fund double-sided auction mechanisms for the early production and offtake of clean shipping fuels, building on the H2Global model. In the longer term, the European Commission should establish an EU-wide intermediary, funded through recycled maritime EU ETS revenues, to support future tenders and infrastructure deployment. According to the coalition, H2Global’s auction mechanism can minimise public spending while providing the long-term revenue certainty needed to unlock private investment and bring hydrogen-based marine fuels to market at scale. Among the 23 signatories is (WIC) member CMB.TECH.
