Nel Hydrogen reposted this
Together with several other CEOs of European hydrogen companies, I had the pleasure of meeting with EVP of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, in Brussels this week. A key topic of discussion was how Europe can avoid replacing one unfortunate dependency (imported energy) with another (clean tech). Unfortunately, Europe seems to have lost out on solar and battery technology; wind and hydrogen technology might be next. To prevent this from happening, the EU needs to get its industrial policies right and create a level playing field where the continent’s hydrogen OEMs have a fair chance of winning. That does not mean that the EU should block foreign OEMs from exporting their products to Europe but everyone needs to play by the same rules and be held to the same standards. Today, European companies find themselves at a significant disadvantage in Europe. For example, - Chinese OEMs receive massive direct and indirect financial support that dwarfs what Europe has done so far and what it’s planning to do. This allows them to sell cheap products to Europe - Chinese OEMs have limited domestic compliance & reporting requirements whereas European OEMs are subject to onerous EU rules and regulations. The reporting burden and compliance cost for European OEMs keeps growing every year. Meanwhile, there is limited scrutiny of Chinese exporters. - Chinese OEMs are preferred when state-owned Chinese companies award contracts while European companies cannot even bid on these unless they set up shop in China or enter into JVs with Chinese companies. In short there is one set of rules for European OEMs and another set of rules for Chinese OEMs. Therefore, we argued that the next European Hydrogen Bank auction should have 3 non-price criteria to ensure fair competition, quality jobs, and value creation in Europe: 1. The electrolyzer cells/electrodes must be made in Europe 2. The electrode surface treatment must happen in Europe 3. The stacking of electrodes must happen in Europe We need the EU to be a referee and put an end to the disadvantages European OEMs experience on their home turf. Let there at least be fair competition to decide who the better players are.… Renewable Hydrogen Coalition Olivia Breese Dr. Sopna Sury Ana Quelhas Peter Friis Kim Hedegaard François Paquet Philipp Offenberg Pierre TARDIEU Josche Muth Constantine Levoyannis
