Spanish hydrogen experience qualifies Teresa Ribera for the climate job in the next EU Commission

Hydrogen’s roll-out needs experienced political leadership that takes responsibility for a fast growing and vibrant renewable energy system, while remaining fully aware of the need for a multifaceted approach to the energy transition. Teresa Ribera is that kind of leader.

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis is CEO of Hydrogen Europe

The European Commission has highlighted the need to expand hydrogen as one of the building blocks to reach 2040 greenhouse gases (GHG) reduction objectives.

The decarbonisation of industrial processes and feedstocks, and a massive roll out of distributed and remote Variable Renewable Energy Sources (VRES) will require hydrogen to satisfy the need for clean gas, but also to complement electrification and accelerate VRES integration in the system.

This ought to be spearheaded by experienced political leadership that takes responsibility for a fast growing and vibrant renewable energy system while remaining fully aware of the need for a multifaceted approach to the energy transition.

Teresa Ribera, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of Spain, is that kind of leader. She understands the advantages of a multi-modal energy system encompassing renewable gases like hydrogen.

A sectoral integration between the power and gas grids will complement an electricity grid modernisation and expansion and will maximise energy transport efficiency. It will also be more cost-effective for end customers and will optimise the roll-out and assimilation of VRES in the European landscape.

The challenge ahead is to integrate various types of hydrogen infrastructure into an energy system without seeking to foster competition with the infrastructure for power. Hydrogen and its corresponding infrastructure need to be established as a viable and vital complement to the electricity grid.

However, an honest reality check by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has analysed the achievements and shortcomings of the EU’s current industrial policy on renewable hydrogen. In a nutshell, the ECA concludes that the speed of EU policies was not mirrored by fact-based analyses and led to a scattered framework that fails to provide adequate guidance for Member States.

Investments into the hydrogen economy need clarity, which is why the European Commission urgently needs a political spearhead equipped with deep experience in both international climate policies and national governments challenges.

We are therefore fortunate that one of the strongest candidates for Climate Commissioner is likely to be proposed as Spanish Commissioner for the next term. Teresa Ribera would be an excellent choice given the achievements that she personally has put forward on an international, European, and national level.

Her successes span sustainable development and climate change, notably the adaptation of carbon taxation to account for external costs caused by CO2 emissions.

One of the biggest challenges for Ursula von der Leyen’s next college will be lifting current CO2 pricing, notably via ETS, to a level that puts investments into clean tech at least on par with the current regime of subsidies towards fossil solutions. Teresa Ribera’s knowledge of legal and political bottlenecks as well as her assertiveness will aid the energy transition.

After the hydrogen rush it’s time for an updated hydrogen strategy and an orderly implementation scheme that works hand in hand with EU Member States. The Commission will very soon need to decide its strategy for an energy transition that preserves and strengthens the competitiveness of EU industries, avoiding further deindustrialisation.

An update of the renewable hydrogen production and import targets need to be updated in an ambitious but realistic way. Yet, industrial sector specificities and the role of low-carbon hydrogen need to be part of this equation.

Spain has possibly shown itself to be the most prominent member of the EU hydrogen club, based on the performance of the latest auctions of the EU Hydrogen Bank and given its need for local hydrogen production versus hydrogen imports.

This Spanish experience makes Ribera a prime candidate for the climate job in the next EU Commission.