Clifford Chance

Focus on hydrogen: the European Hydrogen Bank

24 April 2023

One of the first measures announced by the European Commission President von der Leyen, in her September 2022 State of the Union speech, was the creation of a new European Hydrogen Bank (EHB). Six months later, in March 2023, as part of the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan, the European Commission (the Commission) has released a Communication on the EHB to stimulate and support investment in sustainable hydrogen production.

In March 2023, the Commission rolled out a package of legislative and regulatory proposals in the context of the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan aiming at strengthening the resilience and competitiveness of net zero technologies manufacturing in the EU. In this context, the proposed structure and operation of an EHB aims primarily to create an EU domestic hydrogen market and eventually to support imports to the EU by accelerating investment and bridging the relevant investment gap.

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