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

Also in this section
13 March 2025
Government awards €1.21b of funding to seven large-scale projects as it chases capacity target of 12GW by 2030
12 March 2025
Speakers at this year’s CERAWeek conference noted the growing interest in green hydrogen, but hurdles such as cost remain to its adoption at scale
11 March 2025
A reassessment of clean hydrogen’s growth trajectory is underway, but the energy vector’s long-term potential to decarbonise remains intact
10 March 2025
Collaboration has become crucial to success as projects turn out to be more complex and expensive than previously thought, industry figures tell Dubai conference