'From niche to scale' | EU launches €3bn European Hydrogen Bank with a bang but keeps quiet about the details
New financial institution mooted to be a buyer of Europe's future green H2 production, but how much and under what terms remains shrouded in mystery
Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition
The European Hydrogen Bank (EHB) was announced today by European Commission (EC) president Ursula von der Leyen in her annual State of the Union speech , in which she hinted that the bank would “guarantee” purchases of hydrogen to create certainty of demand, using seed capital from the €38bn Innovation Fund.
“We need to move our hydrogen economy from niche to scale,” she told her audience in the European Parliament. “To achieve this, we must create a market maker for hydrogen, in order to bridge the investment gap and connect future supply and demand.”
“[The bank] will help guarantee the purchase of hydrogen, notably by using resources from the Innovation Fund,” she added.
But rumours are already circulating that the bank will use its capital to buy up all ten million tonnes of Europe’s 2030 green hydrogen annual production target, mandated as part of the REPowerEU plan.
Carbon contracts for difference?
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, chief executive of trade body Hydrogen Europe, claimed in an online post that not only would the bank buy up all ten million tonnes per year but that it would then resell it to market at a lower price under a Carbon Contracts for Difference scheme.
The trade body does appear to have some concerns about the EHB, however, euphemistically describing the €3bn budget as “a good starting point” that it believes could be leveraged up to €20bn.
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