China ‘represents challenge’ to EU hydrogen economy

The hydrogen economy in China is accelerating rapidly as the EU struggles to adequately capitalise its market mechanisms

The EU must increase the speed with which it deploys hydrogen electrolysers if it is to avoid losing investment and expertise to China, according to experts that spoke at the Hydrogen Online Conference. The EU — which in 2023 finalised its definition framework for green hydrogen and is piloting a subsidy mechanism for production in November — has often been criticised for moving slower than the USA, where the passing of incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 has led to a flurry of investment activity. But China also represents a threat to European developers, according to Christopher Hebling, director of Hydrogen Technologies at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems