CEOs back clean hydrogen for industrial competitiveness

Hydrogen Europe has announced the launch of the European Resilience Alliance for Clean Hydrogen & Derivatives (ERA).

It’s a CEO-led initiative that aims to unite companies across the clean hydrogen value chain to address Europe's current energy challenges.

More specifically, they are looking to boost competitiveness and strategic autonomy in the face of industrial pressures and geopolitical tensions.

ERA will work to create the conditions necessary for a cost-competitive clean energy value chain, by presenting a unified voice to European policymakers.

ERA’s founding members include Hydrogen Europe, Enagás, Fluxys, Fortum, Gasgrid Finland, Moeve, Nordian Energi, OGI, RWE Generation, SEFE, Strega and Thyssenkrupp.

MEP Andrea Wechsler said at the launch: "Europe’s energy transition is not just about decarbonization – it is about building a resilient sovereign energy system that delivers for both citizens and industry. Resilience must become one of the guiding principle of our energy policy, grounded in diversification, system integration, and credible market frameworks that turn ambition into investment."

Have you read?
ITM gets £86m from UK government to boost hydrogen sector
Green hydrogen or lost leadership? Europe must act before China wins

This message was echoed by Miguel Ángel López Borrego, chief executive of thyssenkrupp AG & thyssenkrupp Decarbon Technologies, who stressed that "resilience has become a political and economic imperative requiring action. As the European Resilience Alliance, we are taking the lead, shouldering responsibility, and working together to strengthen Europe’s energy resilience and industrial competitiveness while accelerating decarbonisation."

The ERA is also looking to identify and resolve practical bottlenecks. To this end, it has launched a white paper to provide actionable insights that address current shortfalls.

The white paper highlights that despite a large pipeline of projects across the clean hydrogen value chain, fewer than 7% have reached a final investment decision.

Reasons for this include fragmented implementation of EU regulation, complex Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) rules, high electricity costs and insufficient demand certainty.

To remedy the situation, it calls on European institutions and Member States to take action across four pillars:

• Europe must move beyond indicative targets and focus on driving demand by enforcing rules more consistently across the EU.
• Currently for electrolyzer-based hydrogen, 70% of the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) comes from electricity, making it vital to lower the cost of carbon-free power production to make clean hydrogen competitive. This can be done by lowering electricity costs (grid fees, levies, taxation) and extending exemptions beyond 2030.
• Public policy must enable – not replace – private investment. A predictable and sufficient greenhouse gas price under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is central. The paper also suggests that all revenues from ETS auctioning, including those flowing to Member States and from the gradual phase-out of free allocation should support the low-carbon transition.
• Europe must scale up funding for the European hydrogen backbone, coordinate cross-border planning to connect production, ensure clear timelines for demand hubs, and create EU-wide risk-sharing instruments for early infrastructure investment.

Olli Sipilä, CEO of founding member Gasgrid Finland, highlighted: “Strengthening Europe’s industrial and societal resilience must begin immediately. Volatile imported fossil fuels cannot form the backbone of our industrial competitiveness in the decades ahead."

Sipilä added that clean hydrogen is an important opportunity and Europe needs to build the necessary infrastructure to make the most of it. 

“New energy infrastructure is essential to enable this transformation. A hydrogen backbone infrastructure is the true game changer, lowering costs and unlocking investment opportunities at scale.”

The white paper highlights too that the cost of inaction will be “severe” and not something Europe can afford as competitors like China accelerate rapidly.

It concludes by stating that “Europe must respond with equal determination and urgency.”