What’s Right? What’s Wrong? IOGP comments on the ‘EU Strategy for Energy System Integration’ and ‘A hydrogen strategy for a climate neutral Europe’

On 8 July 2020, the Commission presented the Communications ‘EU Strategy for Energy System Integration’ (ESI Strategy) and ‘A hydrogen strategy for a climate neutral Europe’ (Hydrogen Strategy).

This paper outlines IOGP’s comments and recommendations on the ESI and Hydrogen Strategies:

• Taking an integrated, inclusive and technology neutral approach to tackling GHG emissions in a cost-effective way
• Designing market and infrastructure rules for the successful development and deployment of renewable and low-carbon gases
• Enabling all renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production technologies to compete on a level playing field and facilitating their uptake in the industrial, transport and heating sectors
• Addressing barriers through establishing a supportive regulatory framework for carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS)
• Promoting research and innovation to accelerate hydrogen and CCUS deployment
• Ensuring consistent and science-based policy making through thorough, transparent and inclusive impact assessments

• IOGP calls for a consistently integrated, inclusive and technology neutral approach to all follow-up measures stemming from the Hydrogen and ESI strategies
• We support the proposed development of a European terminology and certification system for renewable and low-carbon gases based on life-cycle GHG emission savings achieved through the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) revision
• The EU should leverage existing assets, as using the natural gas infrastructure for renewable and low-carbon gases can save time and costs while reducing the need for dramatically expanding power transmission infrastructure
• We welcome the launch of the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance and believe its focus should include all hydrogen production technologies, including hydrogen from natural gas with CCUS
• We stress the importance of enabling renewable and low-carbon hydrogen through appropriate State aid rules and of including CCUS and all renewable and low-carbon hydrogen in the scope of the revised State aid guidelines for energy and environmental protection (EEAG) as well as in the IPCEI framework
• We strongly encourage the Commission to establish an annual European CCUS Forum at the latest in 2021
• We call on EU policy makers to carry out, in line with Better Regulation guidelines, thorough, transparent, inclusive and science-based impact assessments of initiatives stemming from the ESI and Hydrogen Strategies