Renewable Hydrogen in Germany, Poland, and Portugal

Hydrogen has caught significant attention from a wide range of stakeholders in EU Member States. It has a vast potential and is of great benefit, particularly for hardest-to-abate sectors, such as steel and chemicals, where electrification and energy efficiency are insufficient to enable the desired deep decarbonisation. However, this potential remains largely untapped as, to date, European national hydrogen strategies typically do not feature sound sectoral targets for the use of hydrogen, especially in existing demand applications (e.g. oil refining and chemicals), and the scale of clean energy capacity additions requirements remains unclear.

The EUKI project 'Greening H2' commissioned a study from Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank, which aims to fill this knowledge and research gap by investigating the potential for and implications of renewable hydrogen deployment in Germany, Portugal, and Poland. It explores their respective national strategies, summarises core elements, and critically evaluates and places them in the broader EU hydrogen plans.