The European Union will establish the European Union ' s hydrogen-energy Bank for the promotion of industrial modelling development

The European Commission will create a €3 billion ($3 billion) European Hydrogen Bank to help move the hydrogen economy from niche to scale, Kallanish reports.

Using resources from the Innovation Fund, the bank will help guarantee the purchase of hydrogen and build the future market for it, EC`s President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

[We must create a market maker for hydrogen, in order to bridge the investment gap and connect future supply and demand," she adds, noting hydrogen can be a [game changer" for Europe.

Trade body Hydrogen Europe said the bank will be a [good starting point," but that the association would work to leverage that amount to ensure the hydrogen economy indeed moves from niche to scale. It sees the bank as the [right instrument" to bring production and demand into a right balance.

Also on 14 September, the European Parliament committed to binding renewable targets and simplifying the regulatory framework. Among the targets, it says half of the industry sector should be using green hydrogen by 2030, increasing to 70% by 2035. The transport sector should curb its greenhouse gas intensity by at least 16% by 2030, and renewables should account for 45% of the European energy mix by then.

Additionally, the parliament also scrapped the controversial [additionality" rules which would require all renewable hydrogen produces to source electricity from dedicated renewable sources, with grid supply allowed only when it could be offset with dedicated supply within the hour. Now, producers can run their electrolysers with power from the grid, provided they can verify it as green electricity by securing power purchase agreements from renewable projects.

Hydrogen Europe says the parliament listened to the sector`s concerns that overly strict regulations would hinder the development of the market.

[The task at hand is to find a balance between ensuring green hydrogen is produced from new renewable energy capacity and avoiding excessive constraints on a nascent market," it adds.

The trade body estimates industry and mobility would contribute 9-10 million tonnes/year of green hydrogen, from the target of 20m t/y by 2030. The REPowerEU strategy seeks a supply of 10m t/y of green hydrogen produced locally and 10m t/y imported.

Europe is ensuring it has the right tools in place to take leadership in the global hydrogen economy, preventing investors from going to the US, where the government has recently announced up to $3 tax credit (or direct payment) per kilogram of hydrogen produced in the country.