A cross-party group of MEPs has written to the European Commission asking it to reconsider its focus on green hydrogen and green hydrogen imports in its RepowerEU initiative.

The EU has ramped up its target for green hydrogen consumption to 20mn t/yr as part of its RepowerEU policy response to the war in Ukraine, aiming to meet this goal with 10mn t/yr of domestic production and 10mn t/yr of imports.

But in a joint letter, 19 MEPs from the Socialists & Democrats, Renew, European People's Party and European Conservatives and Reformists groups say the EU should focus more on domestic production.

20mn t/yr – EU’s 2030 hydrogen consumption target

“The EU should focus first on developing the necessary capacity of clean hydrogen domestic production, whether it comes from renewable or low-carbon sources, before importing any other additional molecules from reliable international partners,” the letter says.

In addition to looking for imports, the European Commission has focused almost exclusively on green hydrogen, whereas other authorities, such as the UK and the US, have put in place policy incentives to develop blue and pink hydrogen projects.

Delegating responsibility

The letter also addresses ongoing manoeuvring over the definition of green—or renewable—hydrogen. The Commission had initially consulted on the definition for renewable hydrogen in two delegated acts that set strict additionality criteria for production.

But after complaints from industry and lobby groups, MEPs effectively watered down the proposals and took control of the process of defining renewable hydrogen in a vote in the European Parliament.

Under the new rules, MEPs said renewable hydrogen can be produced from grid-sourced electricity as long as producers secure power-purchase agreements from renewable energy installations for the equivalent amount of electricity.

But the letter from the cross-party group, which represents just a fraction of MEPs in the European Parliament—albeit from across the political spectrum—says this decision should be overturned.

“The criteria as adopted in the position in Parliament on 14 September must not be accepted by the Commission, as they are highly problematic for countless reasons in terms of content and procedure,” it says.

The European Parliament’s involvement has slowed setting up of the legal framework for defining renewable hydrogen—a process that had already been criticised by industry as being too slow.

Europe must improve the speed at which it sets policy if the region is to avoid losing investment to the US and other regions, according to industry group Hydrogen Europe’s CEO, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis.

Waiting for MEPs to decide on a definition as part of a wider package of legislation would take too long, he told a recent conference.

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Author: Tom Young