European producers of “green” hydrogen have called on the leadership of the European Union to implement a “made in Europe” policy for public procurement in the hydrogen sector. They believe that such measures will help strengthen the positions of local companies in the market and prevent European producers from being pushed out by Chinese competitors.
This is reported by Finway
Challenges for the European hydrogen industry
The past year has been challenging for the industry: numerous hydrogen projects have been canceled or postponed, and high energy prices in Europe have complicated competition with cheaper hydrogen produced from fossil fuels. Currently, it accounts for about 90% of hydrogen consumption in the region’s industry. Kim Hedegaard, CEO of the Danish company Topsoe’s Power-to-X, emphasized that European producers support the EU initiative to implement “made in Europe” requirements for the procurement of electrolyzers funded by public money.
“We must avoid a situation where we lose an entire industry, as happened with solar panels in the 2000s when Europe lost most of its production to China, becoming heavily dependent on imports.”
The draft of this proposal is primarily focused on electrolyzers. However, the idea has faced resistance from certain governments and companies, and discussions about which specific technologies will fall under the new rules and whether they will apply to countries outside the EU are still ongoing.
Competition with China and the importance of investment
Håkon Walldal, CEO of the Norwegian company Nel Hydrogen, stressed that European firms currently do not have equal opportunities to participate in large-scale projects similar to those being implemented in China. In his opinion, the situation could change with government contracts that would pave the way for industry development.
President of the European Investment Bank Nadia Calviño noted in February that electrolyzers and the wind energy sector remain areas where Europe still has competitive advantages. However, to maintain leadership, she stated, it is necessary to continue investing in the development of domestic value chains.
China already controls 60% of the world’s electrolyzer manufacturing capacity. At the same time, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, European companies still dominate the domestic market, providing over 80% of electrolyzer supplies for projects in the region since 2022.