Renewables executives warn Europe 'don't miss the boat' as US impresses on green hydrogen
'Massive programme' of IRA set to underpin strong clean power and electrolyser growth across Atlantic, sector leaders tell WindEnergy Hamburg
Europe is in danger of “missing the boat” over green hydrogen expansion, warned one of the continent’s most senior renewable energy executives as he pointed to “massive” policy action in the US.
“Look at the US. At the moment there is a massive, massive political programme [to] support the build-out of renewables and green hydrogen,” Utermöhlen told a panel at the WindEnergy Hamburg industry event.
“That’s where I think Europe needs to look and say ‘we have to be careful we don’t miss the boat here’.
“If we want to build a European green hydrogen industry, we can’t just sit idle and believe it happens by itself.”
Ben Backwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) told WindEnergy Hamburg that the incentives of the IRA “are a blunt instrument that is so much simpler than what we have in Europe in many ways”.
“All that will provide incredible stability and growth for the US renewables industry for the next 10 years.”
“If we want to incentivise green hydrogen, just incentivise it,” said Backwell, who estimated that the IRA was probably worth an extra 80GW to the US wind pipeline.
Francois Paquet, impact director at the Brussels-based Renewable Hydrogen Coalition, told the panel that while Europe enjoyed strong positions in electrolyser technology and key complementary renewables sectors such as offshore wind, the “next big step is to really work on support schemes. We’ve got to make sure in Europe we have affordable renewable hydrogen to meet the demand coming up.”
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