European ministers urged to streamline renewable hydrogen financing

In a joint letter, CEOs from the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition (RHC) have urged European Ministers of Finance to streamline financing to renewable hydrogen and electrolyzer manufacturing capacity within Europe and allocate national budgets to the European Hydrogen Bank.

According to the CEOs, the critical first wave of European renewable hydrogen projects is very close to becoming reality, but many of them will only do so if certain measures are taken.

The CEOs noted that today, only 4% of projects have reached the final investment decision (FID), and inflationary pressures and increasing interest rates have cast a shadow over investment cases, among other factors.

“Urgent and bold action is required now to realize more projects and supply Europe’s hard-to-electrify sectors with the volumes of green molecules they require. For this, the rapid, non-bureaucratic and targeted deployment of simple and well-focused public financial support is needed,” the CEOs said.

They called on the European Ministers of Finance to:

• Streamline national and EU public funding to accelerate the deployment of renewable hydrogen projects and electrolyzer manufacturing capacity in Europe.
• Allocate national budgets to the European Hydrogen Bank to bolster its budget and use its simple ‘Auction-as-a-Service’ to support national renewable hydrogen projects and allow them to reach the finish line faster.
• Support the deployment of new, additional funds for the next European budget and European Investment Bank to provide guarantees to unlock and accelerate private investments in Europe.
• Implement the “polluter pays” principle in energy taxation, taxing products according to their greenhouse gas content.
• Stop fossil fuel-related subsidies, aligning actions with the goals set out in COP28.

“Europe has everything it needs to lead the renewable hydrogen revolution. This opportunity must not be missed. The contribution of the 27 European Ministers of Finance is decisive in making this happen,” the CEOs stated, adding that they are fully committed to helping the ministers deliver on the common goal of building a sustainable and resilient Europe with renewable energy.

To remind, in July 2023, the RHC, which promotes the role of renewable hydrogen to deliver the EU’s long-term decarbonization goals, elected new leadership that called for tangible action in the hydrogen industry.

• New RHC leadership calls for tangible action in hydrogen industry