Clean hydrogen is the energy of the next generation: Von der Leyen
If Europe wants to meet its climate goals, it needs to accelerate in the European hydrogen economy.
Clean hydrogen will have a central place in the climate-neutral economy of the future, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.
“At the beginning of this year, more than 200 new hydrogen projects had been announced globally. 55% of them are in Europe,” Von der Leyen has said during European Hydrogen Week kicked off today in Brussels.
She further stressed that Europe needs to scale up clean hydrogen production, expand its applications, and create a virtuous circle where demand and supply feed each other and decrease prices.
Von der Leyen said that the current rise in gas prices shows that green hydrogen today can even be cheaper than grey hydrogen. Our target should be to bring the cost below € 1.8/kg by 2030.
Other participants highlighted various aspects of the hydrogen economy. Jean-Eric Paquet, Director-General of DG Research and Innovation of the EC, added that it would be important to build connections between old and new European Hydrogen Valleys.
René Schutte, Chair of the FCH JU Governing board, commented, “Building the hydrogen value chain and economy unleashes many opportunities in Europe as a frontrunner to create skills, knowledge, and jobs.”
Dr Fatih Birol, Director of the International Energy Agency, noted, “Everybody loves hydrogen because it can be produced from different energy sources, for different uses, and it will be the backbone of the new energy economy.”
During the event, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership has also been launched. Clean Hydrogen Partnership will take over all the activities of the existing FCH JU. It will build on the success of FCH JU to accelerate the development and deployment of a European value chain for clean hydrogen technologies, contributing to sustainable, decarbonised and fully integrated energy systems.
Bart Biebuyck, Executive Director of the FCH JU, said, “The Clean Hydrogen Partnership is built on more than a decade of successful research and innovation in Europe, and it is now ready to contribute to Europe’s green evolution together with the other partnerships.”
