Rapid roll-out of green hydrogen must consider social standards

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) recognises that green hydrogen is an important building block in the transition towards renewable energy sources, and says that its infrastructure, financing and remit have to be carefully planned

Renewable and low-carbon hydrogen must be rapidly rolled out across the European Union. This is key for the EU’s future energy system as well as its social and economic well-being, including its competitiveness compared to other economic regions.

This is the main finding of the opinion Hydrogen - infrastructure, development needs, financing, use and limits drawn up by Thomas Kattnig and adopted at the September plenary session.

To enable the rapid roll-out of hydrogen, said Mr Kattnig, ‘the EU needs to scale up the manufacturing of electrolysers, deploy the required clean electricity production, have in place the appropriate infrastructure, and ensure fair distribution of the associated costs and the efficient use of financial resources, as well as of hydrogen itself.’

The EESC opinion argues that, due to the significant challenges involved in creating supply, demand and infrastructure, the use of hydrogen must, in the first instance, be targeted towards hard-to-electrify sectors and as a means of energy storage.

The opinion also specifies that primarily renewable hydrogen, as defined by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1184, should be eligible for public funding, although other forms of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen, especially in the transitional phase, might also need to be used. Public funding should, in any case, only be granted to production processes with an overall emission intensity (including indirect emissions) that is comparable to the production of renewable hydrogen.

Certification schemes must ensure social standards

The EESC draws attention to the fact that, aside from ensuring green criteria, the roll-out of green hydrogen must include certification schemes aimed at guaranteeing social standards.

These standards must include fair and safe working conditions and compliance with labour, social and trade union rights.

Certification and verification schemes must be implemented by a central EU body and must not be replaced by the participation of companies in voluntary certification schemes.

Smart and structured planning to ensure solid infrastructure

According to the EESC, pipeline infrastructure is key to the rapid roll-out of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen.

However, since building the relevant transport infrastructure will entail significant costs, the EESC stresses the importance of allocating resources efficiently.

This will require smart and integrated planning, including across borders, as well as a regulatory regime that enables necessary investment in the infrastructure while promoting the environmental sustainability of the energy system as a whole and protecting network users from excessive network charges.