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Mar 10, 2023 
By Frédéric Simon

Industries unite behind nuclear-made hydrogen, in addition to renewables

EXCLUSIVE: The steel and chemical industries have joined calls to incorporate nuclear-made fuels in the EU’s renewable energy targets, saying all types of clean hydrogen will be needed to reach the bloc’s decarbonisation objectives.

The call to action was signed by industry groups in the steel, fertilisers, and chemicals sectors, which are seen as the most likely buyers of clean hydrogen in the coming years.

“We are involved in a global race,” they write in a letter sent to the European Commission on Friday (10 March). “Deployment speed  throughout legislation will be key to keep the Union’s leadership on hydrogen.”

The letter focuses on a broad category of clean fuels known as RFNBOs – renewable liquid and gaseous fuels of non-biological origin – which includes electro fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia and synthetic hydrocarbons like e-kerosene.

These fuels are considered key to decarbonising industries like chemicals, steelmaking and fertilisers, which are heavy energy consumers and cannot fully electrify their production processes.

RFNBOs are regulated by the EU’s renewable energy directive, which is currently being revised and includes specific targets for renewable transport fuels.

However, the letter’s signatories argue that RFNBOs should not be constrained to renewables only but should also consider fuels manufactured from low-carbon electricity sources – a reference to nuclear-powered hydrogen.

“Focusing these targets on RFNBOs without taking into account the potential of low-carbon hydrogen will slow down the decarbonisation process in heavy industry and transport,” the signatories warn, calling on EU legislators “to design a pragmatic framework for hydrogen”.

“This can be done by combining ambitious RFNBOs objectives and the needed recognition of low-carbon hydrogen to meet the triple challenge of decarbonisation, security of supply and industrial leadership,” they write.

The letter was initiated by France Hydrogène, a French industry association. It was signed by trade associations Fertilizer Europe, Eurofer and Cerame-Unie, and the European chemicals industry council (CEFIC). Steelmaker ArcelorMittal and French electricity utility EDF are also among the signatories, which includes a host of other groups.

It mirrors recent moves by the European Commission, which exempted EU countries with a low-carbon electricity mix from a rule requiring that renewable hydrogen must come from “additional” renewable energy sources only.

This means countries with high shares of nuclear power can use existing wind farms and solar plants to power their electrolysers – without building additional ones.

EXCLUSIVE: The steel and chemical industries have joined calls to incorporate nuclear-made fuels in the EU’s renewable energy targets, saying all types of clean hydrogen will be needed to reach the bloc’s decarbonisation objectives.

The call to action was signed by industry groups in the steel, fertilisers, and chemicals sectors, which are seen as the most likely buyers of clean hydrogen in the coming years.

“We are involved in a global race,” they write in a letter sent to the European Commission on Friday (10 March). “Deployment speed  throughout legislation will be key to keep the Union’s leadership on hydrogen.”

The letter focuses on a broad category of clean fuels known as RFNBOs – renewable liquid and gaseous fuels of non-biological origin – which includes electro fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia and synthetic hydrocarbons like e-kerosene.

These fuels are considered key to decarbonising industries like chemicals, steelmaking and fertilisers, which are heavy energy consumers and cannot fully electrify their production processes.

RFNBOs are regulated by the EU’s renewable energy directive, which is currently being revised and includes specific targets for renewable transport fuels.

However, the letter’s signatories argue that RFNBOs should not be constrained to renewables only but should also consider fuels manufactured from low-carbon electricity sources – a reference to nuclear-powered hydrogen.

“Focusing these targets on RFNBOs without taking into account the potential of low-carbon hydrogen will slow down the decarbonisation process in heavy industry and transport,” the signatories warn, calling on EU legislators “to design a pragmatic framework for hydrogen”.

“This can be done by combining ambitious RFNBOs objectives and the needed recognition of low-carbon hydrogen to meet the triple challenge of decarbonisation, security of supply and industrial leadership,” they write.

The letter was initiated by France Hydrogène, a French industry association. It was signed by trade associations Fertilizer Europe, Eurofer and Cerame-Unie, and the European chemicals industry council (CEFIC). Steelmaker ArcelorMittal and French electricity utility EDF are also among the signatories, which includes a host of other groups.

It mirrors recent moves by the European Commission, which exempted EU countries with a low-carbon electricity mix from a rule requiring that renewable hydrogen must come from “additional” renewable energy sources only.

This means countries with high shares of nuclear power can use existing wind farms and solar plants to power their electrolysers – without building additional ones.

France has pushed for the European Union to recognise nuclear power as a low-carbon energy source alongside renewables. Last week, Paris launched a “nuclear alliance” with 10 other EU member states, aiming to cooperate more closely along the entire nuclear supply chain and promote “common industrial projects” in new generation capacity.

Germany, a country opposed to nuclear, has initially resisted the push but seemed to back down on Thursday, saying it won’t oppose plans to recognise the contribution of nuclear power to the EU’s decarbonisation goals.

“We will not erect barriers or create rules that prohibit or discriminate against hydrogen made from nuclear power,” said Jörg Kukies, financial market and European policy advisor to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who spoke at a public event in Paris.

Read the full letter,  download it here.