Europe will this week announce plans for a new EU-wide partnership to develop clean hydrogen fuel technologies, as Brussels seeks ways to accelerate its push towards carbon neutrality. Plans for a “clean hydrogen” alliance will be unveiled on Tuesday alongside a new industrial strategy for Europe, officials said, following the precedent set by last year’s advanced battery technology alliance, which was cleared to receive €3.2bn in public support.
An EU official said clean hydrogen could become vital for energy heavy sectors such as aviation, transport, and other parts of heavy industry. The alliance marks a more assertive industrial approach from the EU in the face of competition from China and elsewhere, with plans to deploy a range of tools, including trade, competition and procurement policies. Officials hope eventually to clear the hydrogen alliance for state aid as the battery alliance was.
The alliance is one of a number of projects cited in preliminary drafts of the commission’s industrial strategy, which is being spearheaded by Thierry Breton, EU single market commissioner, with other officials. He told the Financial Times that hydrogen would be a vital technology for European industry in the years to come. “It will be strategically important for energy independence and the future of Europe,” he said in an interview in Paris.
Interest in using hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels is increasing globally as governments come under pressure to impose strict constraints on emissions. However, the technology to produce the alternative fuel cleanly – through electrolysis of water – remains prohibitively expensive. The aviation and automotive sectors have called for government support to bring the technology into the mainstream.