Europe’s permitting and regulatory framework is one of the biggest hurdles to hydrogen projects, senior industry executives told the recent World Hydrogen Summit in Rotterdam.

“On the regulation side and legislation, we have our Renewable Energy Directive, the delegated acts, and [the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism]—you name it. Somehow in Europe, we are world-class [in making] it really complex and difficult for both customers and producers,” says Axel Wietfeld, hydrogen CEO at Germany’s Uniper.

“We know how to handle hydrogen safely and we want to make sure it is widely accessible for use” Wietfeld, Uniper

“And our experience is it just takes so long, the application process itself takes so long, and once you have won it, the discussions thereafter easily take two years and also an entire team to answer all the questions by the regulatory authorities.”

This slow permitting process may also restrict developers’ capacity to ensure timelines for different elements of a project are aligned. To manage risk and make projects bankable, “we should line up everything at the same time”, Wietfeld says. “That is the green electrons, the electrolysis itself, the customer, but also the entire infrastructure, the grid access, the hydrogen transportation.”

“What is for me sometimes difficult to understand is [that] we are all on the same page,” he notes. “If you talk to policymakers, I have not heard a single policymaker not agree [on] this topic for about two years, and nevertheless, somehow we are not able to act on that.”

Wietfeld adds that Europe is capable of speeding up these processes when necessary, raising Uniper’s construction of a floating storage and regasification unit at the port of Wilhelmshaven within a year as an example of pragmatic acceleration.

US industrial gases firm Air Products’ Emea president, Ivo Bols, also highlights acceleration of permitting for renewable electricity and hydrogen distribution infrastructure as a top priority to enable hydrogen scaleup—but notes the elements to assuage regulators already exist.

“Hydrogen has been part of the industrial gas industries for many decades. It is a well-functioning and competitive marketplace that is cost-effective and efficient for end-users,” he says, adding that the company is working with industry associations to ensure that “proven safety procedures” are available throughout the sector. “We know how to handle hydrogen safely, and we want to make sure it is widely accessible for use.”

Agreement from regulators

European Commission executive vice-president Frans Timmermans agrees with the industry that permitting must be simplified and accelerated.

“Our task is to make sure that there [are] no delays in permitting,” he says. “That is the biggest issue we have in the EU, because permitting is so complicated. If I could take care of permitting only on the European level, I think we could move very quickly. But permitting is an issue on all levels of government, starting with the local government.”

He notes that the Nature Restoration Law progressing through the European Parliament could “make it easier for the renewables sector” if developed in a way that combines installation with nature protection. “For the hydrogen sector, it is essential that we rapidly increase the production of renewable energy, obviously, so in that context, I believe our task is to make regulation faster, easier and to remove the inherent contradictions—or the perceived contradictions that sometimes are not even there.”

The Commission has also proposed the Net Zero Industry Act, which includes time limits on permit-granting for net-zero technology manufacturing projects, including for wind turbines, solar panels and electrolysers.

Timmermans is confident that, if permitting and regulatory bottlenecks are removed, the industry “can move very, very quickly from plans to projects” and meet or overshoot targets.

But even with an acceleration in renewables deployment, Bols is uncertain that purely domestic development will be sufficient for achieving hydrogen targets and the wider energy transition.

“If we want to achieve our global goals and commitments, renewable energy needs to increase at a rate of 18–19pc of capacity every year,” he says. “If you want to achieve that, by only developing this renewable energy domestically, we will fall dramatically short in particular in regions like Europe. That is why it is critically important that we collectively develop and complement this domestic renewable energy production with global supply chains.”

Bols estimates that if every nation tried to develop renewables and hydrogen along a “self-reliance” strategy, the global energy transition would require an additional $6tn.

---

Author: Polly Martin