Hydrogen is key pillar of Green Deal Industrial Plan

On Wednesday 1st of February, in Brussels, European Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyen, and the Executive Vice President for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, announced the launch of an ambitious Green Deal Industrial Plan, and a Member States consultation on the revision of the state aid frameworkfor net-zero technologies. Those with an interest in the hydrogen value chain will be encouraged to see that hydrogen is now unequivocally a strategic technology for reaching the EU’s net-zero target by 2050.

The Green Deal Industrial Plan will be structured around four pillars, all relevant for hydrogen technologies and their applications:

• A predictable and simplified regulatory environment, that will include a Net-Zero Industry Act, with targets for net-zero technologies by 2030, faster permitting processes alongside the already foreseen CRM Act.
• Faster access to funding, that will lead to an important revision of the Temporary Crisis Framework (TCF), with its extension until end of 2025, thus allowing renewable hydrogen to benefit from more open state aid rules. This pillar is complemented by the announcement of the first auctions for the Hydrogen Bank.
• Ensuring proper skills for the green transition, including upskilling and reskilling in the hydrogen sector.
• An ambitious trade agenda, which reflects the EU’s priorities for clean technologies in the international scene.

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