Europe's future clean energy system will rely on the import of green hydrogen

     Francis Timomans, European Union climate commissioner.

     Frans Timmermans, head of climate affairs of the European Union, said that Europe's future clean energy system would rely on the import of green hydrogen.
     "I firmly believe that green hydrogen is the driving force of our future energy system," the EU Climate Action Commissioner told the European Parliament last week. "I also firmly believe that Europe will never produce enough hydrogen by itself." H2 will be the driving force of our future energy system, but the EU will need to rely on imports.
     We cannot get rid of our dependence on fossil fuels overnight. He said: "During this period, in order to not rely on a certain kind of energy, we need to diversify energy supply as much as possible."
     In a broad sense, if we can establish a diversified interdependence around the Mediterranean, it means that we will all be closely related to the production, distribution and application of green hydrogen. This is the future. This is also one of the ways you can create more stability in the geopolitical system, and it will also provide a huge opportunity for Africa's development, Let 600 million Africans who have no energy now have access to electricity.
     At the same time, Egypt and Türkiye plan to produce more renewable energy than they need, so they want to find a place to sell the surplus renewable energy. For a member who had previously called for Europe to be more independent, especially in the local production of solar panels and electric vehicle batteries, this was not a slip of the tongue.
     Just a few days ago, Timmermans said at the press conference during his visit to Türkiye: "We want to establish a partnership because the EU needs much more hydrogen than we produce ourselves.". We hope to establish partnerships, especially with countries around the Mediterranean, to create a future hydrogen-based economy. We do not rely on one or two single suppliers, but we have diversified supply and demand.
     He told the European Parliament that at least in the short term, Europe would need liquefied natural gas and some pipeline natural gas from countries outside Russia.
     That's why I want to talk everywhere with countries interested in doing so (such as Türkiye and Egypt). But I would like to add one more point. These countries are not stupid. They did an analysis and said, OK, but you are moving away from fossil fuels. Now you need us, but what about ten years later, or fifteen years later? That is why what I provide and what the committee provides is a long-term partnership, starting with LNG and ending with hydrogen economy.
     The European Hydrogen Strategy released in the summer of 2020 calls for the installation of 40GW of electrolytic cells in Europe by 2030, and 40GW of electrolytic cells will also be installed in "the surrounding areas of Europe exported to the EU".
     Felicia Mester, the public affairs director of European Hydrogen, a Brussels-based trading agency, said that Europe has great potential in producing renewable and low-carbon energy. However, in order to replace the use of all fossil fuels and decarbonize the EU economy in a record time, we need to import.
     From the perspective of ensuring supply security, "it also needs to ensure that all the strengthened natural gas assets are suitable for hydrogen applications. Looking ahead, we need to build hydrogen terminals that can use LNG in the short term, rather than LNG terminals that can be modified in the future."