Leaked draft | US Treasury guidance for clean hydrogen producers even stricter than EU Delegated Acts on hourly matching

However, while the EU allows matching of renewable power to electrolyser operation within a calendar month up to 2030, at which point the two must take place in a one-hour window, the Treasury has reportedly set annual matching up to 2027 and hourly matching from 2028 onwards — making the rules stricter than in Europe.

Environmental groups and analysts have argued that without these rules in place, a boom in green hydrogen projects drawing electricity from the grid will mean an indirect increase in emissions, as fossil fuel-fired power plants burn extra coal or gas to replace renewable energy being diverted to electrolysers.

He added: “Absent a meaningful number of first movers, a new industry will not develop. It is surprising and disappointing that the Administration would propose such a rigid approach that is at odds with decades of learning about new technology deployment.”

Proponents of nuclear hydrogen such as Constellation, which operates the largest fleet in the US, have also strongly criticised additionality, as it would cut out so-called “pink” hydrogen from accessing the top rate of the tax credit since new reactors can take years, if not decades, to build.

Some Democrat senators, including Joe Manchin and IRA co-author Tom Carper, have publicly argued that these restrictions were not contained in the IRA, and therefore represent legal overreach by unelected officials.