(18 December 2020) – Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain have issued a joint letter calling on the European Union to clearly prioritise renewable energies under an EU-led project aiming to accelerate hydrogen deployment.
The European Union launched yesterday a hydrogen “project of common European interest”, or IPCEI, with 23 European countries signing a manifesto paving the way for a cleaner hydrogen value chain. However, the five EU countries see the move with scepticism, warning the initiative must not be used as a backdoor to finance fossil gas infrastructure.
EU member states have squabbled over the past weeks about which type of hydrogen to support, with two opposing camps facing off: those backing green hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable electricity, and those in favour of a broader “low-carbon” definition, which also includes nuclear power and decarbonised gases.
The five EU countries were supported in their move by environmental groups, which have expressed doubts at the EU’s hydrogen manifesto. “This initiative must not become a cover to throw public money into fossil fuels,” said Rita Tedesco from ECOS, a pressure group specialised in green standards. (EurActiv)