The country’s planned regulatory framework and financial support for development of the hydrogen sector and a CCS supply chain lack realism and flexibility, market players have protested.
These complaints were directed towards the Greek government and the European Commission as a Brussels task force and top-ranked energy ministry officials continue talks on pending issues ahead of Greece’s application for a fourth installment of Recovery and Resilience Facility funds.
Giorgos Alexopoulos, deputy CEO at Helleniq Energy, formerly named Hellenic Petroleum, told an annual RRF conference that EU policy on the regulatory framework for hydrogen development is flawed, making production of hydrogen almost impossible beyond 2030.
He attributed this concern to a green hydrogen regulation requiring RES participation in national grids to be at a level of over 90 percent.
“This requirement places in doubt green hydrogen production almost anywhere in Europe, except for the Nordic countries,” Alexopoulos supported, calling on the European Commission to show more flexibility on the matter, a stance that was backed by Johannes Luebking, head of the visiting RRF task force.
Failure to resolve the issue will delay the hydrogen sector’s development and its penetration of natural gas networks, Alexopoulos warned.
Greece has committed to having prepared a regulatory framework for hydrogen by June, one of the requirements set if the country Greece is to secure 795 million euros in financial support for energy projects through REPowerEU, bolstering the preceding RRF initiative.