The Diplomat
The Minister for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, yesterday signed a memorandum of collaboration with the Dutch Minister for Energy and Climate, Rob Jetten, to jointly promote the renewable hydrogen industry, according to Europa Press.
“Spain is positioning itself as an ally of its neighbours to take advantage of its renewable energy potential,” said Ribera, alluding to the Spanish government’s goal of exceeding 4 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity in electrolysers. “To achieve this, Spain wants to connect with key players in the promotion of the hydrogen value chain,” she added.
For his part, the Dutch minister acknowledged that Spain and the Netherlands “face important energy transition challenges”, and celebrated the fact that this synergy will allow both countries to “unite their potential” and jointly promote the hydrogen industry at European level.
Ribera agreed on the need to “strengthen the commitment for Europe to lead the green transition”, stressing the importance of improving the value chain associated with industrial hydrogen equipment in order to increase its competitiveness.
In addition, the Spanish minister was in favour of distinguishing hydrogen labelling to separate ‘low carbon’ from green hydrogen, as she believes that this is the only way to prevent the former from being prioritised in a future centralised regulation of this renewable energy.
Although she acknowledged that the decarbonisation of Europe has been slowed down by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the minister welcomed the fact that this year the measures to promote energy transition have been strengthened across the continent in order to provide a coordinated response to an exceptional situation.
For his part, Jetten said that the only strategy for dealing with the high energy prices that have resulted from this war lies in accelerating the transition to a greener economy.
