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According to Sinochem New Network, during the “European Hydrogen Week” held in Brussels recently, participants expressed general frustration over the EU’s complicated regulatory framework, but acknowledged that with mandatory hydrogen quotas and the start of pipeline construction, Europe is set to become the world’s largest market for low-carbon hydrogen. Faced with the wave of project cancellations, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe, said that Europe’s hydrogen sector is at a crossroads and that regulations need to be relaxed to facilitate the development of a clean hydrogen market. The conference highlighted the progress of several major projects. For instance, German utility RWE and French energy giant TotalEnergies signed an agreement to purchase 30,000 tons of green hydrogen per year. This hydrogen will be transported via a 600-kilometer pipeline from a 300-megawatt electrolyzer plant in Lingen to a refinery in Saxony-Anhalt, which is set to become operational in 2030. Shell’s 200-megawatt electrolyzer project in Rotterdam will produce 22,000 tons of green hydrogen per year, which will be transported to the petrochemical park via a newly built 30-kilometer pipeline. At the meeting, representatives from countries such as Oman and India said outright that the current EU regulations are difficult to implement, with the core dispute lying in the standards regarding the power source used for green hydrogen production. Under the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), 42% of hydrogen used in industry by 2030 must be “renewable non-biological fuel (RFNBO)”, and it must meet strict requirements such as additivity (use of additional renewable energy sources), temporal alignment (hydrogen production must coincide with electricity generation within 1 hour starting from 2028), and geographical proximity (hydrogen and renewable energy sources must come from the same region). The industry believes that these regulations will increase costs and calls for a suspension of their implementation. There is also a disconnect in regulation between the EU and its member states. Although the EU has established RFNBO requirements through RED III, member states are responsible for ensuring compliance through their own incentive policies, infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks, as well as for certifying green hydrogen in order to report to the EU. Werner Ponikwar, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Electrolysis, said, “The industry needs a clear planning framework, and the EU should provide a supportive regulatory environment.” ”