European countries are looking for hydrogen sources

Christopher Herwartz

Christoph Herwartz, correspondent in the Handelsblatt office in Brussels, analyzes trends and conflicts, regulatory projects and strategic concepts from the inner workings of the EU. Because anyone interested in business needs to know what’s going on in Brussels. You can reach him at: [email protected]

Petroleum is sometimes referred to as “black gold” because historical discoveries often induce the same kind of frenzy as gold discoveries in western North America. Over the next two decades, oil is expected to lose much of its status as the fuel of modern life. The energy source of the future is called hydrogen. You could also call it “green gold”. And the run has begun.

It will be geopolitically relevant who can reliably offer hydrogen, who is dependent on imports and who has the best partnerships for trading hydrogen. Since the US got in the race, Europeans are considering focusing their efforts even more on ramping up the hydrogen economy. China’s companies are trying to catch up with the West in terms of technology.

In view of the dimension of the topic, it seems petty at first glance that there is now a bitter dispute within Europe about how hydrogen should be produced – without carbon dioxide emissions with wind, water and solar power or additionally with low carbon dioxide with nuclear power?

Spain has the best starting position

But above all it will depend on who within Europe will benefit most from the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy – and thus from a billion-dollar industry that is expected to generate high profits for decades.

Spain has the best conditions to become an exporter of green hydrogen. Wind and sun are sufficient. Although France also has wind power potential, its use is particularly controversial among the population. In contrast, acceptance of nuclear power is high. In Germany, on the other hand, concerns about wind power have eased, while new nuclear power plants remain politically ruled out.

>> Also read here: EU determines when hydrogen is “green” – economy sees “finally clarity for industry and investors”

Unlike the black gold, the green gold is not found in deep layers of rock, but on windy coasts and in sunny deserts – but also in the attitudes of the population towards certain forms of energy and in the paragraphs of EU legislation.

Construction site for a nuclear reactor in France

Billion dollar business over decades.

(Photo: REUTERS)

Because that is the substantive core of the current dispute: Should the current revision of the Renewable Energy Sources Directive also include a target for low-CO2 hydrogen, i.e. hydrogen produced with nuclear energy? In addition to France, Eastern European countries in particular, which continue to rely on nuclear power plants, want this. Germany and Spain are the main opponents of this idea.

The issue is so important to the French that they are threatening to block a hydrogen pipeline from Spain through France to Germany. A solution to the conflict is difficult: both sides have enough votes in the EU Council to block a decision in favor of the other side.

However, a blockade is exactly what the EU needs least in the hydrogen race with China and the USA.

More: Nuclear showdown in the EU: Berlin and Paris are fighting over the role of nuclear power in the energy transition.

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