Where initially climate policy was driving the agenda, energy security is increasingly becoming the dominating factor. The crises in Ukraine and Iran have sharpened focus on diversifying the energy mix, with hydrogen being key. Here are three key takeaways from our ETI Team.
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#1 Hydrogen as energy resilience, scale is now imperative
Europe no longer needs more hydrogen pilots; it needs scale. Europe started as a front runner and can regain that position, but the pilot phase is over. The challenge now is scale, and that requires legislation and policy to drive demand more effectively.
The message at the summit was clear: if hydrogen is not produced in Europe, the technology and the business will move elsewhere. Europe then risks becoming an importer of hydrogen, the very outcome that energy security ambitions aim to prevent. A clear theme from the summit was the importance of regulatory certainty. One example is that EU member states must transpose RED III goals consistently and on time. Strengthening the Emissions Trading System and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism was seen as a positive signal; weakening them would damage the sector's development.
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#2 Lower costs across the chain, and strengthen the business case
Political commitment is a necessary start, but hydrogen will only scale if the business case works as well. Another recurring theme at the summit was how to reduce costs across the entire hydrogen value chain and connect the current policy signals to future investment decisions.
Technology is not the obstacle. It is proven. Regulatory uncertainty is the real barrier, particularly the absence of clear demand-stimulation mechanisms. Public tenders that focus exclusively on lowest price leave hydrogen at a structural disadvantage. Financial incentives for off-takers, sectoral mandates, and a stable regulatory framework are all essential.
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#3 Cross-border infrastructure, the non-negotiable enabler
Lower costs and growing demand only deliver if hydrogen can physically reach the industries that need it. That requires cross-border infrastructure between EU member states. Businesses need to know where they can locate, and a hydrogen backbone is the foundation for that certainty.
Rotterdam aims to become the hydrogen hub for North-West Europe. An excellent example: at the summit King Willem-Alexander symbolically activated the first section of Gasunie's Dutch national hydrogen network, a 32-kilometre pipeline between Maasvlakte and Pernis in the Port of Rotterdam. Building directly on this first section of the Dutch national hydrogen network, Gasunie, Open Grid Europe, and Thyssengas signed an agreement to develop a cross-border hydrogen connection between the Netherlands and Germany, targeted for completion around 2031. The aim is to give German industry and the chemical sector direct access to Dutch hydrogen production, storage, and import facilities.
The bottom line
The summit made one thing clear: hydrogen will only scale if policy, economics and infrastructure move forward together. Re-prioritise hydrogen at EU level, drive down costs across the value chain, and invest decisively in cross-border infrastructure. The ingredients are there. These are practical questions that businesses already face today.
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Our ETI Team can support you in navigating regulation, structuring investments, and financing innovation in this evolving market. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss the implications for your business.
