EU member states have agreed to see renewable hydrogen replace 42% of grey industrial hydrogen and 1% of transport fuel by 2030.
The European Council adopted the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), setting mandatory targets for renewable energy use, to see clean energy make up 42.5% of the EU’s final energy consumption by 2030.
Member states agreed that 42% of hydrogen used in industrial processes should come from renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) by 2030, increasing to 60% by 2035.
Green or renewable hydrogen, under EU criteria is viewed as an RFNBO, meaning that renewable hydrogen must be produced form additional renewable power plants during the hours they are operating, in the same area the plant is located.
With approximately 9.7 million tonnes of grey hydrogen used in the EU per year, the new agreement is estimated to create an initial demand for over four million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by the end of the decade, and almost six million tonnes by 2035.
In transport, states agreed to a binding target to reduce 14.5% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity from the use of renewables by 2030. The new rule set a sub-target for a 5.5% share of transport fuels to be advanced biofuels and RFNBOs (renewable hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels).
Within the transport target, there is a minimum requirement for 1% of RFNBOs in the share of renewable energies supplied to the sector by 2030.
Europe has already adopted the Alternative Fuelling Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) which mandates for member states to make hydrogen refuelling stations, capable of refuelling both heavy- and light-duty vehicles, are publicly available in every urban node and every 200km along the core TEN-T network by 2030.
Speaking to H2 View in April (2023), JorgoChatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe, said the industry and transport mandates represented some five million tonnes of renewable hydrogen.
Among other measures for seeing renewable energy taking up larger shares in other areas, RED also aims to accelerate the permitting of renewable energy projects to fast track deployments to meet the EU’s REPowerEU goals.
Teresa Ribera, Spanish acting Minister for Ecological Transition, described the agreement as the “greatest achievement” in the framework of the Fit for 55 package.
“It is a step forward which will contribute to reaching the Eu’s climate targets in a fair, cost-effective and competitive way,” Ribera said.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has said the EU’s regulatory framework is almost complete, saying, “We will soon have a full set of clear rules in place, to support our emerging hydrogen market. We are the only continent where this is the case.”
