Hydrogen Europe And The EIB Sign An Advisory Agreement

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Hydrogen Europe, a European industry, research, and national and regional groups in the hydrogen and fuel cell sector, signed a consultancy agreement today.

The EU bank will offer financial and advising support for Hydrogen Europe's hydrogen projects under the terms of the agreement. It will also collaborate on market development projects and undertake collaborative market outreach. Finally, the agreement will aid in the development of green hydrogen-specific EIB financing instruments.

Hydrogen technology has the potential to help the EU achieve a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. Hydrogen's current contribution of Europe's energy mix is less than 2%, but it could rise to 14% by the mid-century. By 2050, the European Hydrogen Strategy, which is part of the European Green Deal, seeks to make hydrogen widely available.

Green hydrogen will be produced on a systemically important scale between 2030 and 2050, according to the policy. As a result, increased investments in renewable or low-carbon hydrogen will be required. According to the strategy, manufacturing capacities in the European Union will require between €180 and €470 billion by 2050. Hydrogen Europe is one of three parties in the European Joint Undertaking on Hydrogen, a public-private collaboration striving to ease the market adoption of clean hydrogen technologies in Europe, alongside the European Commission.

“Green hydrogen presents an opportunity to decarbonise industrial processes, particularly in sectors where emission reduction is urgent but difficult to achieve,” said EIB President Werner Hoyer.

He continued “many European countries are actively supporting the development of hydrogen technologies. One of the main strengths of the European Investment Bank is that it combines advisory and technical support in the initial phases of a project with attractive forms of financing later on. This model is perfect for the development and deployment of new breakthrough technologies, including those based on the use of hydrogen.”

Green, zero-emission hydrogen is extremely expensive to obtain. The European Investment Bank is a crucial finance partner in the EU. The EU bank has contributed over €2 billion in advisory and financial support to hydrogen-related projects during the last eight years. Projects that support new hydrogen fleets and accompanying infrastructure, as well as projects that focus on scaling up deployment in the transportation sector, have received financing.

The EIB is ideally positioned to promote the development of the hydrogen ecosystem in Europe, given its expertise and track record in funding innovative technologies and infrastructure, particularly offshore wind and batteries. Electrolysers, catalysts, and fuel cells are now supported by the Bank. It also funds large-scale hydrogen generation, such as electrolysis, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen power plants.

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