Renewable hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources has been recognized by the European Parliament as the key carrier to decarbonize the hard-to-abate sectors of Europe’s economy. This strategy will be accompanied by the deployment of significant additional renewable energy capacities and is a step towards achieving a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. The decarbonization of end-uses through direct electrification, calling on the European Commission to accelerate the transition to renewable energy-based systems and the electrification of end-use sectors. In addition to this, the report calls for a targeted revision of the State Aid guidelines to promote the deployment of renewable energy sources. In this regard, it singles out the potential for integrating solar at the distribution level and calls on Member States to remove administrative barriers for renewable energy projects. Hydrogen report defines hydrogen from renewable sources as crucial to Europe’s energy transition, because only hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources can sustainably contribute to climate neutrality and avoid lock-in effects or stranded assets. The report calls on the European Commission to promote lead markets for renewable hydrogen technologies and to promote their use for climate-neutral production, primarily in steel, cement, and chemical industries.
The Hydrogen report calls for the deployment of renewable energy capacity in proportion to future renewable hydrogen demand. The deployment of additional capacities, along with the setup, needs to be prepared as soon as possible, within the right regulatory framework for hydrogen that ensures standardization, certification, guarantees of origin, labelling and tradability across Member States. The report calls on the Commission to assign Guarantee of Origin to renewables and renewable hydrogen, and to frame the discussion in the context of the Renewable Energy Directive revision. For those sectors which may be more difficult to electrify, renewable hydrogen will play a strategic role in delivering climate neutrality by 2050. In this light, the report is well-balanced and clearly acknowledges renewable hydrogen as the most sustainable and future-proof solution. While the report keeps the door open for ‘low-carbon hydrogen sources’, it is critical to ensure such technologies abide by the highest sustainability standards, and remain transitional solutions to avoid any investments in stranded assets.