Hydrogen sector asks EU to help local firms compete with China
BRUSSELS: European manufacturers of hydrogen equipment have urged the European Union to step in to help the industry compete with cheaper Chinese producers, in a letter seen by Reuters on Monday.
The companies, among them Thyssenkrupp Nucera, Siemens Energy, and Nel Hydrogen, want Brussels to do more to ensure Europe-made equipment powers the EU's plan by 2030 to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen using electrolysers, machines that use electricity to split water to produce the green fuel.
China is rapidly expanding its production of hydrogen equipment and is now home to 40% of the world's electrolyser manufacturing capacity, up from 10% last year, the letter said, adding that state subsidies were giving Chinese firms an edge.
«This skewed playing-field creates unfair competition and puts European electrolyser manufacturers at a significant disadvantage,» said the letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
«Once a technology or its supply chain is lost, it is impossible to bring it back,» said the letter, which was dated on Monday.
The European firms asked Brussels to introduce «resilience criteria» that would favour local firms in upcoming auctions from the bloc's Hydrogen Bank funding scheme, and ensure certain parts of the production process are located in Europe.
The EU hydrogen bank awarded 720 million euros to seven EU projects in April. Industry sources have said the low-priced bids from some successful projects indicated that they would be using cheaper Chinese equipment.
