Nine EU countries want low-carbon hydrogen included in bloc’s renewables goals.
Nine EU member states, including France, have called on the European Commission to include low-carbon hydrogen – produced from nuclear electricity – in the EU’s renewable hydrogen targets.
France, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary and Czechia made the call in a letter sent to the European Commission.
Their demand is based on the principle of “technological neutrality” and “member states sovereignty and competences to decide of their energy mixes,” as defined in the EU treaties.
These principles were reaffirmed in mid-January by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a bilateral summit in Paris.
At the meeting, Scholz recognised the role of nuclear in attaining EU decarbonisation goals, while Macron agreed not to obstruct the development of the H2Med hydrogen pipeline linking Spain to Germany.
The two leaders even announced a “joint roadmap” for the development of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen.
Low-carbon hydrogen
In their letter, the energy and industry ministers of the nine member states are calling for this “shift in thinking” to be reflected in the EU’s renewable energy directive (RED), which is currently being revised for the third time.
The group is also calling for similar amendments to be introduced in the so-called “gas package” which regulates the production and transport of hydrogen.
The nine countries write in the letter:
We urge the Commission to propose an amendment for the RED3 draft, in order to align hydrogen and fuels targets in transport and industry with such a technologically neutral approach.
In their view, aiming for “exclusively renewable” targets could hamper the EU’s main objective of cutting emissions to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Together, the nine countries constitute a blocking minority in the EU Council of Ministers, according to the entourage of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the French energy transition minister.
Low-carbon hydrogen should thus be developed “without any delay or unnecessary constraint,” they write, calling for “ambitious targets” and “equal incentives” to be set for both renewable and low-carbon hydrogen.
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Nine EU countries want low-carbon hydrogen included in bloc’s renewables goals, February 2, 2023
