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The European Union aims to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The production and uptake of green hydrogen is seen as central for achieving this target. The EU’s hydrogen strategy from 2020 marks hydrogen as a “key priority to achieve the European Green Deal and Europe’s clean energy transition.” It sets the targets of installing 40GW of electrolyzer capacity and producing 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen by 2030. Another 10 million tons will be imported, according to the RePowerEU Plan. In 2023, the EU has also defined sector targets: 42% of the hydrogen used in the industry must be renewable by 2030. In the transport sector, at least 1% of the renewable energy supplied must come from sustainable fuels such as hydrogen.

To track progress and compliance with these targets, the EU has defined criteria for hydrogen to be counted as renewable. The delegated acts to the Renewable Energy Directive, passed in 2023, demand green hydrogen to be produced adherent to three principles: additionality, temporal correlation and geographical correlation.

Beyond target- and standard-setting, the EU has set up multiple funds for hydrogen projects and investment schemes. Most projects are funded by Horizon Europe and fall under R&D. The Innovation Fund, which is financed by revenues from the EU Emission Trading Scheme, allocates funding to firms making investments across the hydrogen value chain. Most recently, the Commission has set up the European Hydrogen Bank and conducted its first auction for hydrogen production subsidies. Besides providing own funding, the EU has relaxed state aid rules and, thus, allowed Member States to support their national industries in the energy transition. Member States are also permitted to include hydrogen projects and investment schemes in their Recovery and Resilience Plans.

The EU is not just promoting green hydrogen at home, but is also strongly engaged in forming strategic partnerships for hydrogen import. In addition, several initiatives deal with building a European hydrogen infrastructure and promoting regional hydrogen valleys.

In total, we identify more than 200 policy interventions for hydrogen in the EU. There is, at least numerically, still a great emphasis on R&D. But we find that the EU is already strongly engaged in promoting hydrogen investment in production and, to a lesser degree, in usage.

Ministries involved in hydrogen policy

Number of policy interventions by ministry

Number of hydrogen-related interventions by public entities. This graph shows the distribution of policy interventions among the different public entities in the country. The number of interventions per entity takes into account all hydrogen-related activities, both individual as well as those collectively undertaken.

Hydrogen policy by instrument type and value chain segment

Policy instruments by type

EU

Number of policy instruments in the hydrogen sector by instrument type. The R&D category entails those instruments promoting hydrogen research and development either through tax incentives or grants/subsidies; the Investment category comprehends those instruments promoting the investment in hydrogen production, usage, and/or transport and storage infrastructure; International Initiatives entail the instruments that have an international component i.e. treaties, accords, diplomatic activities, investments made by the Government abroad; Economy-wide instruments refer to non-sector-specific policies that provide a relative advantage to climate-friendly products and economic activities; Network/cluster promotion encompasses those policy instruments focused on building regional clusters and/or networks; Education and information entail the instruments to increase public awareness related to hydrogen; Voluntary agreements refer to those agreements made with private entities to take certain actions without an enforcement mechanism by the government.

Policy instruments by segment of the hydrogen value chain

EU

Number of policy instruments by intervention sector along the hydrogen value chain. Shown here are those policy instruments classified in the following sector categories: multiple, production, usage, and transport and storage. Here multiple refers to policy instruments that directly impact two or more sectors, while the remaining areas of production, usage, transport, and storage exclusively impact the respective sectors.

International hydrogen initiatives

International Initiatives by instrument type

EU

Number of policy instruments in the hydrogen sector by instrument type, considering only international initiatives. It is thus a zoom into the distribution of international interventions by type of instrument.

International initiatives by segment of the hydrogen value chain

EU

Number of policy instruments in the hydrogen sector by segment of the hydrogen value chain, considering only international initiatives. It is thus a zoom into the distribution of international interventions by segment of the hydrogen value chain.

Types of policy instruments

Promotion of Investment

EU

Number of all policy instruments targeting Promotion of Investment (including those targeting Production, Usage, and Transport and Storage) distributed by the different subcategory types: grants/subsidies, tax incentives public procurement, regulatory instruments, and other instruments). Accordingly, this graph includes all instruments that promote investment in either production, usage, or transport and storage as portrayed by the specific instrument they target.

Promotion of R&D

EU

Number of policy instruments targeting Promotion of R&D distributed by the different subcategory types: grants/subsidies, tax incentives public procurement, regulatory instruments, other instruments, and multiple). A "Multiple" intervention is one that targets more than one instrument within R&D, e.g., one that addresses R&D through grants and other instruments, or through tax incentives and other instruments.

Education and Information

EU

Number of policy instruments targeting Education and Information distributed by the different types of subcategories: education/training, awareness raising, labelling, and quality infrastructure. "Multiple" interventions target more than one instrument within Education and Information, e.g., one that addresses Education and Information through awareness raising and labelling, or education/training and quality infrastructure.

Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Production, by instrument type

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Number of policy instruments targeting Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Production exclusively (this graph differs from Graph „Promotion of Investment“ as this one singles out only those interventions focused on Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Production) distributed by the different subcategory types: grants/subsidies, tax incentives, public procurement, regulatory instruments, and other instruments). Multiple" interventions target more than one instrument within Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Production), e.g., one that addresses Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Production through grants/subsidies, tax incentives or regulatory instruments, and other instruments.

Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Use, by instrument type

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Number of policy instruments targeting Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Use exclusively (this graph differs from Graph „Promotion of Investment“ as this one singles out only those interventions focused on Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Use) distributed by the different subcategory types: grants/subsidies, tax incentives, public procurement, regulatory instruments, and other instruments). Multiple" interventions target more than one instrument within Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Use), e.g., one that addresses Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Use through grants/subsidies, tax incentives or regulatory instruments, and other instruments.

Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Storage and Transport Infrastructure, by instrument type

EU

Number of policy instruments targeting Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Storage and Transport Infrastructure exclusively (this graph differs from Graph „Promotion of Investment“ as this one singles out only those interventions focused on Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Storage and Transport Infrastructure ) distributed by the different subcategory types: grants/subsidies, tax incentives, public procurement, regulatory instruments, and other instruments). Multiple" interventions target more than one instrument within Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Storage and Transport Infrastructure , e.g., one that addresses Promotion of Investment in Hydrogen Storage and Transport Infrastructure through grants/subsidies, tax incentives or regulatory instruments, and other instruments.

Policy instruments by segments of the hydrogen value chain

Production of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives, by production process and type of derivative

EU

Displays the number of policy instruments targeting hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives by the production process (electrolysis, SMR with CCS, methane pyrolysis or unspecified) and derivative type (methanol, synthetic fuels, LOHC, ammonia, other or unspecified). Thus, this graph shows both, interventions targeting hydrogen production, and hydrogen derivatives production. "Multiple" interventions target more than one subcategory either or and within the production of hydrogen and production of hydrogen derivatives e.g., one that addresses the production of hydrogen via electrolysis and methane pyrolysis, or production of hydrogen derivatives specific for ammonia and methanol. These subcategories encompass not only the instruments directly affecting production of hydrogen in the graph „Policy Instruments by segment of the hydrogen value chain“, but also the production of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives-relevant policy instruments that are accounted for under the category “Multiple” of the previous figure i.e., that also touch on different parts of the hydrogen value chain in addition to production. The latter needs to be included here for an accurate representation of policy instruments targeting production of hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives.

Hydrogen production by electrolysis, by type of electrolyzer

EU

This graph displays the number of policy instruments targeting hydrogen production by electrolysis, distributed by electrolyzer type: PEM, Alkali, SOEC, or unspecified. "Multiple" interventions target more than one electrolyzer type within hydrogen production by electrolysis e.g., one that addresses Alkali and PEM electrolyzers or SOEC and PEM electrolyzers. These subcategories encompass not only the instruments directly affecting production of hydrogen in the graph „Policy Instruments by segment of the hydrogen value chain“, but also the production of hydrogen by electrolysis policy instruments that are accounted for under the category “Multiple” of the previous figure i.e., that also touch on different parts of the hydrogen value chain in addition to production of hydrogen b of hydrogen by electrolysis. The latter needs to be included here for an accurate representation of policy instruments targeting production of hydrogen by electrolysis.

Instruments in support of hydrogen storage and transport, including mode of transport

EU

Number of policy instruments targeting hydrogen storage and transport infrastructure distributed by its subcategories: mode of transport: road, pipeline, maritime or unspecified, and storage. "Multiple" refers to interventions that touch on different modes of transport and/or transport and storage infrastructure at the same time. These subcategories encompass not only the instruments directly affecting transport and storage infrastructure in the graph „Policy Instruments by segment of the hydrogen value chain“, but also the transport and storage infrastructure-relevant policy instruments that are accounted for under the category “Multiple” of the previous figure i.e., that also touch on different parts of the hydrogen value chain in addition to transport and storage infrastructure. The latter needs to be included here for an accurate representation of policy instruments targeting hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure.

Instruments in support of hydrogen use, by area of application

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Number of policy instruments targeting different types of hydrogen usage. These policy instruments are further divided into six subcategories: power generation, heat, industry (i.e., steel, chemical, cement, other), transport/mobility (i.e., automobile, bus, rail, trucks, aviation and maritime), unspecified, and multiple (touching on two or more subcategories within usage). These subcategories encompass not only the instruments directly affecting usage in the graph „Policy Instruments by segment of the hydrogen value chain“, but also the usage-relevant policy instruments that are accounted for under the category “Multiple” of the previous figure i.e., that also touch on different parts of the hydrogen value chain in addition to usage. The latter needs to be included here for an accurate representation of policy instruments targeting hydrogen usage.

Instruments in support of hydrogen use in transport, by sub-sector

EU

Number of policy instruments that target hydrogen usage in the transport/mobility sector distributed by its further subcategories: passenger vehicles, buses, rail, trucks, aviation, maritime, unspecified, and multiple (touching on two or more subcategories within transport/mobility). These subcategories encompass not only the instruments directly affecting usage in the graph „Policy Instruments by segment of the hydrogen value chain“, but also the usage-relevant policy instruments that are accounted for under the category “Multiple” of the previous figure i.e., that also touch on different parts of the hydrogen value chain in addition to usage. The latter needs to be included here for an accurate representation of policy instruments targeting hydrogen usage and more specifically, use in transport/mobility.

Instruments in support of hydrogen use in industry, by industrial sector

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Number of policy instruments that target hydrogen usage in the industrial sector distributed by its further subcategories: steel, chemical, cement, other, unspecified, and multiple (touching on two or more subcategories within industry). These subcategories encompass not only the instruments directly affecting usage in the graph „Policy Instruments by segment of the hydrogen value chain“, but also the usage-relevant policy instruments that are accounted for under the category “Multiple” of the previous figure i.e., that also touch on different parts of the hydrogen value chain in addition to usage. The latter needs to be included here for an accurate representation of policy instruments targeting hydrogen usage and more specifically, use in industry.