BRUSSELS, 13 FEB - After a long wait, the European Commission has published the proposal for technical criteria to define "green" and renewable hydrogen in the EU.
Hydrogen can be defined as green if it is produced with renewable electricity, but also with electricity with very low emission intensity, ie with energy mixes with a strong incidence of nuclear power.
The criteria are needed for counting Member States' renewable energy targets.
It took the European Commission more than seven months to find a balance between the requests of countries such as France to see nuclear hydrogen recognized, and Germany, which is against it.
The tension manifested itself on February 7, when the rapporteur of the European Parliament on the new renewable energy directive, the popular German Markus Pieper, blocked the legislative process of the proposal until the technical criteria were available.
The EU aims to reach 10 million tonnes of domestic renewable hydrogen production and 10 million tonnes of imported renewable hydrogen by 2030.
