Europe urged to step-up its renewable hydrogen game

December 8, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

The Renewable Hydrogen Coalition (RHC), as the voice of the value chain, encompassing renewable energy suppliers, start-ups, investors, and industrial offtakers dedicated to making Europe the global leader in renewable hydrogen solutions, has called on the European decision-making realms and leaders to scale up incentives, funding opportunities, and market fundamentals for clean technology, especially the landscape surrounding hydrogen made from renewable sources.

EU flag; Credit: Adrijana Buljan, Editor-in-Chief at offshoreWIND.biz, Offshore-Energy.biz's sibling site — EU flag (for illustration purposes); Credit: Adrijana Buljan, Editor-in-Chief at offshoreWIND.biz, Offshore-Energy.biz’s sibling site

During Renewable Hydrogen Summit on December 4, 2025, Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing, reaffirmed the European Commission’s commitment to ramp up renewable hydrogen in Europe, as RHC called for a ‘new deal’ for the sector to maintain Europe’s first-mover advantage amid growing global competition.

The summit declaration outlined urgent actions for policymakers to create effective demand incentives for products made with renewable hydrogen, enhance supply, develop electricity and hydrogen infrastructure, and ensure public funding supports scaling up to meet the European Union (EU) goals.

At the Summit, the European Commission announced the launch of the third auction under the European Hydrogen Bank, backed by a €1.3 billion EU budget, which will be reinforced by national contributions, as Spain is adding €415 million, while Germany will match the EU with an additional €1.3 billion.

As a result, these commitments bring the total budget for this round to over €3 billion. The RHC, which believes that these national contributions show the increasing relevance of the Hydrogen Bank in supporting domestic projects, has invited other Member States to follow suit.

The summit’s call comes on the heels of the European Commission’s adoption of a new list of 235 cross-border energy projects, including 100 hydrogen and electrolyser developments, which obtained the status of projects of common interest (PCIs) and projects of mutual interest (PMIs).

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The European renewable hydrogen sector, which is said to have scaled at “an impressive pace compared to other industries,” stressed that renewable hydrogen is uniquely placed to reinforce Europe’s resilience, decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors, and anchor leadership in the clean technologies that will define the industries of the future and deliver jobs to Europeans.

Ana Quelhas, RHC Co-chair, Chief Hydrogen and Data Center Officer at EDP Renewables, emphasized the urgency to translate ambition into tangible results by saying: “Europe’s renewable hydrogen sector won’t emerge on ambition alone.

“We need support frameworks that decisively catalyse demand, combined with fit-for-purpose schemes that reward scalable, investment-ready projects, and acknowledge the real cost gap through flexible, cumulative funding.”

While electrolyser manufacturing capacity has increased in just a few short years from 1 GW to 10 GW soon coming in operation and set to reach 15 GW by 2026, production projects are also increasing in size. However, the sector’s leaders warned that viable business cases and firm demand remain out of reach without stronger policies.

Against the backdrop of calls to weaken adopted climate and energy policies and technology-neutral narratives, all like-minded companies and organizations are being urged to join the RHC and advocate for policies that accelerate the renewable hydrogen sector’s growth in Europe.

The industry leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating investment and realizing mature projects, provided Europe implements the actions that reflect the strategic importance of renewable hydrogen to its industrial growth, climate, and security objectives.

Kim Hedegaard, RHC Co-Chair and CEO Power-to-X at Topsoe, highlighted: “Europe already has the global lead in hydrogen innovation, but innovation alone doesn’t guarantee manufacturing leadership and commercial scaling.

“For this to happen, we need Made-in-EU cleantech to be prioritised in funding calls and procurement and non-price criteria such as resilience, sustainability, and local content to be applied in EU funding schemes.”

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According to Wood Mackenzie’s five key takeaways from COP30, which was held in Brazil, climate finance is stuck at $100 billion annually, far below COP29’s $300 billion target. As COP30’s ‘Baku to Belem roadmap’ calls for scaling up to $1.3 trillion yearly via private capital, this is said to require a fourfold increase in equity by 2035.

Trade policy is central to decarbonization in WoodMac’s view, as 25% of global emissions stem from internationally traded goods. While the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) aims to price imported emissions, there is pushback from China, India, and Japan, which label it as “unilateral and arbitrary.” As a result, COP30 avoided concrete action on trade barriers, leaving CBAM contentious.

Without the U.S. leadership, Brazil, China, and the UK hosted a methane summit, with 11 countries pledging cuts, but UNEP reports little progress among 159 signatories toward the 30% reduction target by 2030. Data shows that global methane emissions are still rising, despite low-cost mitigation potential.

WoodMac highlighted: “A decade after Paris, global emissions haven’t peaked. Wood Mackenzie’s Base Case projects a 2.6°C warming pathway, with no major economy on track for 2030 targets. Announced goals for 2035 lack the ambition required to keep warming below 2 °C.

“China is decarbonising rapidly but has yet to begin any decline in absolute emissions. Based on the NDCs submitted, global emissions in 2035 are projected to be around 12% below 2019 levels, and insufficient to reach well below 2 °C trajectory.”

Wood Mackenzie emphasizes that its base case energy transition outlook points to around 2% drop in emissions by 2035 relative to 2019 levels, while the country pledges scenario indicates an almost 15% fall over this period. The company’s analysis underscores that submitted NDCs would lead to a warming of above 2°C.