Signal Berlaymont: The EU’s 'green hydrogen' policy under fire 

A recent report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) takes a swipe at the EU’s “green hydrogen” policy, setting targets to produce and import green hydrogen fuel. The EU's stated goal is to produce up to 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030, and import an extra 10 million. These targets are not binding for EU member states, but they do arrive with massive subsidies, both from the EU budget and national budgets.

Behind “green hydrogen” looms a recognition that renewable energy sources like wind or solar power are actually “unreliables”, as their opponents dub them. Often energy is needed, but the sun is not shining and the wind not blowing. Green hydrogen is seen as the solution here, as this involves storing electricity generated by renewables by transforming it into hydrogen gas, to use it at a more convenient moment.

'Overly ambitious targets' 

The problem, says the European Court of Auditors (the EU’s budgetary watchdog), is that the EU’s targets are unrealistic and unlikely to be met. This is despite billions of euros in funding, and because of massive challenges with this technology. The report describes how “the Commission set overly ambitious targets for the production and import of renewable hydrogen, i.e. 10 million tonnes each by 2030. These targets were not based on a robust analysis, but driven by political will.”

Auditor Stef Blok, who coordinated the report, commented: "The EU's industrial policy on renewable hydrogen needs a reality check." His report describes the challenges for renewable hydrogen, mentioning “the cost of production, and the need for renewable electricity and water. In 2022, hydrogen accounted for less than 2 per cent of Europe’s energy consumption, with the largest share of demand coming from refineries.”

The EU is dedicating up a massive €18.8 billion between 2021 and 2027 to this, so green hydrogen support is not a sideshow. About 30 per cent of the EU budget is earmarked for spending to reach EU climate goals, amounting to about €87 billion annually altogether. The trough of money set aside for the grand new “green hydrogen” scheme is a particular focus of lobbyists' frenetic efforts.

EU member states bounce on green hydrogen bandwagon 

EU member states are splashing their own money around for green hydrogen, too. Germany is building new gas-fired power plants, hoping to operate these with hydrogen in the future. (In the future, Germany assumes, conventional gas will no longer be needed.) In Belgium, a new national hydrogen pipeline network is about to cost €330 million.

Right after the publication of the critical ECA report, the Left-wing Spanish government announced it would devote not less than €1.2 billion to new subsidies for green hydrogen hubs. That’s apart from another €750 million for the renewable energy supply chain, including electrolyser manufacturers.

Criticism isn’t new 

The EU Court of Auditors is far from the first authoritative voice warning against the “green hydrogen” fad. Professor Samuele Furfari, a former longtime senior official at the European Commission’s energy department, has done so as well. He even has written a book about it, called The Hydrogen Illusion.

The European Commission has had a strange fascination with hydrogen since the 1960s. It all began with research on hydrogen produced from nuclear energy, at a research centre in Ispra, Italy. Furfari notes this “was (and still is) the only plausible way to produce this molecule for energy purposes”, calling hydrogen derived from renewable energy to be “marginal”. Ignoring this, the EU “adopts the old practices of the communist world: a policy imposed by an all-powerful elite”, refusing to consider technology that actually works.

Special interests 

Unsurprisingly, special interests were closely involved with the EU’s “green hydrogen” drive from the very start. A lobbyist “foisted the unfeasible hydrogen ambition on Europe”, writes Belgian newspaper De Standaard, quoting a report from Dutch investigative website Follow the money. It notes “the good relationship between Diederik Samsom, chief of staff of former European Commissioner Frans Timmermans, and Professor Ad van Wijk was crucial for the European hydrogen strategy”. The European strategy to build two times 40 gigawatts of electrolysers appears to copy the so-called “2x40 GW Initiative”, a document from lobbyist organisation Hydrogen Europe. This document, arguing for a very ambitious hydrogen drive, was also by Ad van Wijk, who is now a professor emeritus at TU Delft university. 

Former German FDP MEP Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, now the CEO of Hydrogen Europe, confirms that Van Wijk “was involved from the start and co-wrote the Hydrogen Europe programme and also the Hydrogen Act. Without him, the rise of hydrogen in Europe, and even worldwide, in this form would not have been possible.”

Tech neutrality 

Often, green hydrogen projects are announced, but never built, due to their cost. A recent report from the International Energy Agency concedes this. Of all  projects announced worldwide to convert renewable electricity into hydrogen, only an estimated mere 7 per cent will become operational before 2030.

Of course, any new technology is welcome, and perhaps sceptics will be proven wrong. Then, fundamentally, the EU should respect the principle of “tech neutrality”, meaning no technology should be supported over any other.  If “green hydrogen” is so wonderful, it will certainly cope without the gigantic amounts of taxpayers money currently being thrown at it.