Jorgo Chatzimarkakis interviewed by Focus.de
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6 June 2023Yesterday (31.05.2023), European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson and German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck agreed to link the new European Hydrogen Bank with Germany’s H2Global support scheme, meaning H2Global will be open to all EU Member States interested in running their own hydrogen tenders. The Bank and the German initiative will also jointly develop a European auction targeting international hydrogen imports. Thus, the import pillar of the bank takes shape.
After assigning an €800 million budget for the first pilot auction of the domestic European Hydrogen Bank, to be launched before the end of the year, yesterday’s agreement sets in motion the Bank’s external pillar for the much-needed imports of renewable hydrogen from outside the EU.
“We definitely need this step forward in order to remain credible with the implementation of the EU Hydrogen Strategy,” says Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe. “We will need more renewable hydrogen than we can produce inside the EU in the required timeframe, particularly for the hardest to abate sectors. And we also need it at a competitive price.”
Daniel Fraile, Chief Policy Officer at Hydrogen Europe, added that “We need speed, determination and a strong EU policy to kick-start the European hydrogen industry. Otherwise, we will fall behind and the competitive and abundant renewable hydrogen will flow to other industrial regions. Let’s hope that the new body can start its operation quickly and set the first auction in the next months”.
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