European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center Launched

EIT INNOENERGY HAS LAUNCHED THE EUROPEAN GREEN HYDROGEN ACCELERATION CENTER (EGHAC), IN AN EFFORT TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ANNUAL €100BN GREEN HYDROGEN ECONOMY BY 2025 THAT COULD CREATE HALF A MILLION DIRECT AND INDIRECT JOBS ACROSS THE GREEN HYDROGEN VALUE CHAIN.

The Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center is supported by Breakthrough Energy, a network of entities founded by Bill Gates and the world’s top tech and business leaders to speed the transition to a clean energy future.

As a proven low emissions power source, green hydrogen is well-positioned to become a central piece of the EU’s climate neutral economy – helping the continent secure strategic autonomy by lessening its dependence on fossil fuel imports.

In July, the European Commission released its long-anticipated Hydrogen Strategy, stating that by 2025 to 2030, hydrogen needs to become an intrinsic part of the EU’s integrated energy system.

To meet this potential, Europe needs to create a world-class investment environment to accelerate innovation and production capacity.

EGHAC promises to accelerate green hydrogen production at gigawatt scale to deliver large-scale industrial projects across Europe.

It also said it would strive to be a key actor in Europe’s green hydrogen ecosystem and will work collaboratively alongside existing efforts in this space to achieve Europe’s vision.

Among the most urgent near-term priorities is to close the price gap between carbon-emitting technologies and green hydrogen.

This would drive substantial displacement of hydrocarbons in energy-intensive industrial applications (i.e. steel, cement, chemicals), heavy transport (i.e. maritime and heavy duty) and fertilisers, according to EGHAC.

EIT InnoEnergy executive board member Jacob Ruiter said: “The commercialisation of green hydrogen is absolutely vital if Europe is to achieve its ambitious goals of becoming the first net-zero continent by 2050.

“Quite simply, there is no better way of decarbonising heavy industry and heavy transport, and it can also play a significant role in supporting grid flexibility through storage.”

Breakthrough Energy senior director Ann Mettler added: “The European Union’s Green Deal is the perfect launching pad for the European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center.

“Building on the political momentum, the Center will use green hydrogen as a driver for the deep decarbonisation of European industry.

“Against this backdrop, it will create a pipeline of pioneering large-scale projects, launch a new generation of public-private partnerships and accelerate the speed of delivery from mega- to gigawatts.”