Third North Sea Hydrogen Ports and Maritime Community (NS HyMaP) Information Bulletin Published

The third North Sea Hydrogen Ports and Maritime Community (NS HyMaP) Information Bulletin has been published.  Below we have published the introduction to the Newsletter which previews  the news articles  in the publication.  If you would like to receive the full Bulletin, please contact Jon Jordan at [email protected] 

European Policy Solutions provides the Secretariat for NS HyMaP and we welcome both news articles and opinion pieces. If you would like to submit a piece in future, please let us know.

Discussions about the role of hydrogen in the EU Recovery Plan and the EU Budget 2021 to 2027 and we begin this Bulletin with a summary of the letter sent by EU Environmental Groups to Commissioners Timmermans, Stenson and Breton about the role of hydrogen in the Green Deal and the operation of the future Clean Hydrogen Alliance.

The commitment to hydrogen can be seen in the next section which looks at the brief Roadmap – only three pages – issued by DG Energy which says that it wants to develop a detailed strategy for hydrogen. These types of Roadmap are issued by the Commission to indicate their thinking and widen debate across Europe. Comments on the Roadmaps are limited to a short period of time and this Consultation ends on 8 June 2020.

The Bulletin next looks at the European Commission’s Recovery Plan which is contained in a Communication to the European Council and Parliament. The Recovery Package has been given the name Next generation EU.

Hydrogen Europe, the trade association of hydrogen industry in Europe, has been very active in calling for greater support to develop a hydrogen economy in the EU. In the first Bulletin, we covered the 2×40 GW electrolyser initiative termed an ‘ambition’ by DG Energy in its Roadmap; and in the last Bulletin we covered its analysis of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hydrogen economy. In this edition, we look at its latest Report “Green Hydrogen Investment and Support.” This builds on the previous analysis and suggests that hydrogen can play a pivotal role in achieving an affordable, clean and prosperous economy with an innovative new hydrogen manufacturing industry. The Plan outlined would cost, up to 2030, 430 billion with support from the EU and Member States at around €145 billion.

The Bulletin looks at the effects that this Plan would have on the ports and maritime sectors.
In view of the interest in a strategic approach to hydrogen shown by the EU, we have outlined the Dutch Hydrogen Strategy which was published at the end of March. This will be if great interest in the view of the excellent work done already by the Dutch Government and the regions, local authorities and ports in developing hydrogen projects. Once more, we look at the Strategy from the point of view of the ports and maritime sectors and note that the Strategy is also looking as far as 2030.

The Dutch Strategy is very measured in its approach but a recent initiative by the Danish Government adopts a bold and innovative approach through the creation of a new artificial Energy Island in the North Sea. The Strategy is at a very early stage and is covered in this Bulletin. We will monitor its progress through the Danish Parliament.

The growing interest in hydrogen in the political arena is demonstrated in the next item. This is another Parliamentary Inquiry by the All Party Group on Hydrogen which sits in the UK House of Commons. Comments to this Inquiry close on 12 June 2020.

Last but not least, the popularity of webinars has not waned. From 1-4 June, it is Maritime Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Webinar Week. The Fuel Cell webinars are on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and sponsored by NS HyMaP Member, Nedstack.

STOP PRESS – The COP26 UN Climate Conference will now be held in Glasgow from 1 to 12 November 2021. The original Conference was due to be held in November this year but was postponed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Further details at www.ukcop26.org