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Hydrogen law– new regulations urgently needed for the development of the hydrogen market

18 January 2024 | Knowledge, News

Hydrogen is set to enable the electrification and decarbonisation of the EU economy. Increasing dispersed generation and the flexible management of energy from RES requires the use of hydrogen, which can act as a feedstock, fuel, carrier and energy storage medium. Hydrogen is expected to find applications primarily in energy, transport, industry and construction, thus facilitating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

In practice, the introduction of innovative hydrogen technologies will require the construction of associated hydrogen infrastructure (i.a. networks, electrolysers). Hydrogen-powered vehicles and machines will be produced and new hydrogen projects will support regional and cross-border development. However, the development of a hydrogen economy value chain requires the adoption of legal regulations defining, i.a., the rules of hydrogen generation, transmission, storage, trading and transportation.

The significance of new legal regulations for the development of hydrogen investments

Published hydrogen strategies at EU and national level set out a vision for the hydrogen economy, including hydrogen production volume targets and application in particular sectors. The EU and national legislator are preparing legal regulations that will extend the natural gas market to include hydrogen. These legal regulations will be the basis for, i.a. the activities of new hydrogen operators, conducting investments in hydrogen terminals and hydrogen trading. The above-mentioned acts will define i.a., operator unbundling, licensing rules for hydrogen activities and the granting of incentives for hydrogen activities.

High development potential of the Polish hydrogen market

Currently, Poland is the third largest European producer of low-emission hydrogen used in industrial processes (including chemicals and metallurgy). The adopted EU climate targets oblige Poland to focus its production on renewable hydrogen, which will make it possible to increase the share of RES and reduce emissions also in the so-called hard-to-decarbonise sectors of the economy.

Source: Magazyn Polska Chemia

Date: November-December 2024

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Wojciech Wrochna

Aleksandra Pinkas

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