A new tool to connect supply and demand
(Sustainabilityenvironment.com) – A European Hydrogen Bank that helps to create a Community market dedicated to the carrier, financing the purchase of the carrier. It was announced today by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in her annual speech on the State of the Union. “Today – said the head of the EU executive – I can announce that we will create a new European Hydrogen Bank. It will help ensure the purchase of hydrogen, in particular by using the resources of the Innovation Fund”.
The project will support the Hydrogen Strategy for a climate-neutral Europe, the strategy adopted by Brussels in 2020 to align the creation of a European H2 market with the EU climate and energy targets. In addition to setting strategic targets for the production and installed capacity of the electrolysers, the Commission included a number of investment estimates. In particular, Brussels has estimated for this decade from 24 and 42 billion euros spent on new electrolysis plants. In the same period, it would also take 220-340 billion euros to increase the production capacity of solar and wind energy up to 80-120 GW and create direct connections that bring electricity to the electrolysers. Transport, distribution and storage of the carrier, together with hydrogen filling stations, would require an additional EUR 65 billion. In this context, the public support provided by the various EU funds must be able to rely on ad hoc channels that do not lack the objective. And the Hydrogen Bank could be one of the tools to ensure that.
“We need to move our hydrogen economy from niche to scale,” said von der Leyen in today’s speech. “With the REPowerEU plan, we have doubled our 2030 target of producing ten million tons of renewable H2 in the EU every year. To achieve this, we must create a market maker for hydrogen, in order to bridge the investment gap and link future supply and demand”.
A European Hydrogen Bank
As explained by the President of the EU Commission, the Bank will use part of the resources of the Innovation Fund to support the carrier and its industry. How? Helping to secure the purchase of renewable hydrogen. “It will be able to invest 3 billion euros to help build the future hydrogen market,” added von der Leyen. “This is how we power the economy of the future. This is the European Green Deal”.