The European Union is placing renewable hydrogen at the heart of its strategy for supporting the energy transition, climate neutrality, and sustainable development, which is why it has adopted a three-phase roadmap to guide hydrogen's rollout and scale-up over the coming decades.
In the first phase, covering from 2020 to 2024, the EU set a target of 6 GW of installed electrolyzer capacity and the production of 1 million tons of renewable hydrogen, primarily intended for industrial processes and bus refueling stations. However, despite progress in operational capacity and nearly 3 GW under construction, the figures at the end of 2025 still fell short of the 2024 target. To accelerate progress, the European Commission mobilized nearly €300 billion to fund the 2022 REPowerEU Plan. This funding is essential to the second phase of the strategy, which aims to reach 40 GW of installed electrolyzer capacity for renewable hydrogen production by 2030.
Starting in 2030, the third phase will focus on bringing these technologies to full maturity and deploying them at large scale in the sectors where reducing emissions is most challenging.
A partnership with a shared goal
Private companies play a crucial role in these efforts, as demonstrated by Electrolysers for Europe (E4E), an association started by six leading companies in the renewable hydrogen ecosystem that aims to help shape the upcoming Industrial Accelerator Act. Its members—ITM Power (United Kingdom), John Cockerill Group (Belgium), Nel (Norway), Sunfire (Germany), Thyssenkrupp nucera (Germany), and Topsoe (Denmark)—employ over 13,000 people in five different countries. One of its key proposals is to protect the production chain within European territory.
The coalition endorses the EU's development plans and strategies, arguing that with the right policy framework, Europe could achieve up to €200 billion in export value (making electrolyzers a key contributor to European industrial competitiveness) and create around one million direct jobs along the green hydrogen value chain.
To achieve this, E4E's manifesto not only calls for accelerating development projects and stimulating demand, but also insists that funding mechanisms must be strengthened. In the association's view, the EU must consolidate and target funding to drive innovation and accelerate deployment, drawing on the revised Renewable Energy Directive, renewable hydrogen production, and the use of Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBOs), while also backing "Made in Europe" technology.
In light of Europe's ambition to scale up renewable hydrogen production—as promoted by the E4E association—the European Union has introduced specific instruments to strengthen financing and assist projects in making final investment decisions (FIDs). Foremost among these is the European Hydrogen Bank, an instrument created to reduce producers' financial risk and connect supply and demand through auctions that provide stable revenues during the early years of operation. In parallel, the EU continues to support renewable hydrogen deployment through the Innovation Fund, which finances clean technologies in multiple sectors. With a budget of €1.2 billion, the IF24 hydrogen auction selected European projects that aim to produce renewable hydrogen (RFNBO) within the European Economic Area, helping to accelerate industrial-scale deployment and reduce emissions during the project lifetime.
A shared challenge where everyone plays a role
In addition to the budgets mentioned above, the European Commission has announced an investment of €650 million from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to fund 14 cross-border energy projects. The goal is to accelerate the integration of renewable energy, strengthen the security of energy supply, and enhance competitiveness. While this is fundamentally a European-scale challenge, the individual push from each Member State is critical to moving forward. These States include:
- Germany: Europe's largest hydrogen consumer, it also boasts the continent's greatest installed water electrolysis capacity, with more than 193 MW. Germany has also updated its National Hydrogen Strategy to meet its 2030 targets: at least 10 GW of installed electrolyzer capacity for renewable hydrogen production and a network of around 1,800 km of pipelines for domestic transport. Through this infrastructure, Germany aims to connect all its main production, import, and storage hubs to consumers by 2032.
- France: The French Hydrogen Strategy aims to decarbonize industry and transportation by installing 4.5 GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030 and investing €7 billion to promote renewable and low-carbon hydrogen. The plan also includes support for more than 150 pilot projects and industrial structures, backed by contracts that can run up to 15 years.
- Spain: One of Europe's front-runners in announced renewable hydrogen projects, Spain has the potential to host nearly 20% of total European capacity. The country also aims to have approximately 12 GW of operational installed electrolyzer capacity by 2030. Key to these efforts is the National Renewable Hydrogen Roadmap, which is part of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC 2023–2030) and positions renewable hydrogen as a pillar of the country's energy transition.
- Denmark: In 2025, Denmark ranked among the countries with the highest per capita production potential and ambition. It has 107 MW of installed capacity, including 52.5 MW from Europe's first large-scale e-methanol production plant. In addition to achieving at least 4 GW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030, one of Denmark's main challenges is building hydrogen pipelines to connect with neighboring countries. This includes an approved project with Germany that will lay 133 kilometers of pipe to link Esbjerg (Denmark) to the German border near Frøslev.
- The Netherlands: Under the Dutch Hydrogen Roadmap, the updated target is 8 GW of electrolysis capacity by 2032, with a strong emphasis on integrating renewable production and infrastructure to cement the country's position as a hydrogen production and export hub.
Over the coming years, Europe's challenge will be to scale up renewable hydrogen technology from the innovation stage to full commercial maturity, making it a pillar of the continent's industry by 2050. The success of this roadmap hinges on whether renewable hydrogen can evolve from a promising initiative into a source that provides 25% of our energy.