Renewable Hydrogen Coalition launched to position Europe as world-leader on renewable hydrogen

Europe’s top renewable energy organisations have launched the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition today to give voice to businesses and thought leaders that will be decisive in positioning Europe as the world leader in renewable hydrogen.

The new coalition will support and accelerate the uptake of renewable hydrogen solutions in Europe. A new study released at the launch shows that renewable hydrogen in Europe could grow at much faster rate than current strategies suggest.

Comprised of WindEurope and SolarPower Europe, and supported by Breakthrough Energy, the coalition will build a high-level and interdisciplinary network of innovators, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders from the rapidly growing renewable hydrogen community, including industrial off-takers.

The Renewable Hydrogen Coalition is being announced alongside European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, under whose authority the European Commission presented an EU hydrogen strategy in July, setting the goal to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030.

The coalition’s goal is to empower Europe to build on its flourishing 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.

Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, said: “To fully decarbonise energy in Europe we need renewable hydrogen. And it needs to be ‘made in Europe’.  WindEurope is pleased to be part of this Coalition. We want to help build a strong European renewable hydrogen industry – based on European renewables.”

Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, said: “Europe is a world-leader in many renewable energy technologies, including the latest innovative applications of solar. Now is a golden opportunity for Europe to develop a robust and competitive renewable hydrogen industry, so it can lead the world in this decarbonisation solution. In order to ensure that the European Commission’s ambitious climate targets are met, and that all sectors are decarbonised before 2050, renewable hydrogen provides the missing link, and the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition is ready to amplify Europe’s position on this technology and provide the necessary network and input.”

The ambitions of the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition are underpinned by a new white paper produced by Material Economics, a consultancy specializing 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.

Per-Anders Enkvist, Founder of Material Economics, said: “We believe there is a good case for asking whether Europe should set itself even higher hydrogen ambitions for 2030 and also include sector demand targets the next time it reviews its hydrogen targets.”

At the Sustainable Innovation Forum 2020, Christian Pho Duc,Smartenergy, and Shiva Dustdar, European Investment Bank, also highlighted the important role Hydrogen will have in the energy transition. Click here to watch the session on demand for free.

Photograph: Wind Europe