Europe launches Renewable Hydrogen Coalition

Comprised of WindEurope and SolarPower Europe, and supported by Breakthrough Energy, the coalition will build an interdisciplinary network of innovators, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders from the rapidly growing renewable hydrogen community, including industrial off-takers. The Renewable Hydrogen Coalition was announced alongside European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, under whose authority the European Commission presented an EU hydrogen strategy in July 2020, setting the goal to produce 10 million t of renewable hydrogen by 2030.

The launch of the new coalition coincides with the first edition of the EU Hydrogen Week. In a declaration released at the launch event, the coalition details the importance of renewable hydrogen in achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal and to reach climate neutrality. It will also help unlock the full decarbonisation potential of Europe’s economies, including end use markets such as aviation, shipping, and heavy industries.

The coalition’s goal is to empower Europe to build on its renewables industry, create a world class electrolyser industry, and develop the business models and markets that will make renewable hydrogen mainstream. It will inform the policy debate with concrete proposals for the scaling up and market uptake of renewable hydrogen – traceability, infrastructure investments, market design, and incentives. The coalition also calls on leaders to redouble their efforts in research and demonstration, while scaling up investments to bring new technologies to the market more quickly.

The ambitions of the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition are underpinned by a new white paper produced by Material Economics, a consultancy specialising in clean energy innovation and energy transition. A key insight of the report is that Europe could commercialise renewable hydrogen faster than current strategies suggest through value chain collaborations with end-product producers, similar to what the European Battery Alliance has done for electric vehicles. Other insights include:

• renewable hydrogen is a significant investment opportunity of €550 -700 billion with an abatement potential of 450 - 550 million t CO₂ (or 10% of Europe’s annual emissions)
• Europe could mainstream renewable hydrogen much faster than current strategies suggest through value chain collaborations with end-product producers
• there is significant ‘hidden demand’ in the European economy for green hydrogen, with 540 TWh potential demand unlockable in the near term and 1200 - 1400 TWh in the medium-term, provided there will be sufficient cost decreases, investments, and policy support
• to realise this potential, Europe needs to act with speed and scale in four areas: establish lead markets (e.g. green fertilisers and steel), mobilise massive investments (especially in renewables as over 280 GW dedicated capacity is likely needed), accelerate innovation from early-stage research through demonstration, deployment and scale-up, and establish enabling policies and standards.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/special-reports/26112020/europe-launches-renewable-hydrogen-coalition/