What does the European hydrogen strategy entail?

Hydrogen has been in the news constantly in recent months. European Commissioner Frans Timmermans presented the European hydrogen strategy, in which hydrogen as an energy carrier must play a crucial role in achieving the climate goals. What exactly are the European plans and what stands out?

The European Commission (EC) has drawn up a plan for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. Hydrogen and sustainably generated electricity play a crucial role in this. For example, the goal is to increase the production capacity of hydrogen sixfold by 2024. Hydrogen must become an integrated part of the European energy system within ten years at the latest.

This is a big ambition because hydrogen currently only makes up two percent of the total energy mix. Ultimately, this percentage must grow to fourteen percent by 2050. For these plans, the EC will need at least five to nine billion euros over the next four years. These costs will increase exponentially, because it is estimated that around forty billion euros in investments will be needed by 2030. With this, the Commission hopes to reduce the annual emission of ninety million tons of CO2.

Groningen is also mentioned several times in the European plans. This is because the region is currently positioning itself as a 'hydrogen valley' or hydrogen cluster. The EU would also like to see the creation of this type of cluster set up elsewhere in Europe. Within the Netherlands, for example, Rotterdam could also take a similar position as Groningen in the future European hydrogen market.

The different colours of hydrogen

However, there are also critics. For example, hydrogen is a so-called 'energy carrier' and that means that another energy source is always needed to generate it. The European plans focus on the creation of green hydrogen. This is called so because the energy carrier is generated by solar and wind energy. It should be noted that this is still in its infancy in terms of scalability and cost neutrality.  

Where green hydrogen is still very expensive, other colours of hydrogen may become more interesting. For example, there is also blue hydrogen, which is produced on the basis of natural gas but where the CO2 is captured and stored. There is also grey hydrogen from fossil sources with an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphereIn terms of costs, the green variant should be considered to cost between EUR 2.50 and EUR 5.50/kg, while grey hydrogen costs EUR 1.50 to EUR 1.70/kg.

To make the transition to green hydrogen, there is still a big step to be taken. Not only in terms of investments, but also in terms of technology and scalability. How are we going to produce the green variant and make it more cost-effective? Don't we need the other variants to make the transition?

The Commission and the industry will soon have to formulate answers to these questions. FHI is monitoring developments in the hydrogen market and will continue to report on them in the future. For our other reporting, see the website. For further questions about the strategy, there is also the website of the EC.