Dialogue Event. Decarbonising Europe's Energy System with Hydrogen

The European Commission has called for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 in its long-term strategic vision, “A Clean Planet for All”. One building block of the strategy is to maximise the deployment of renewables and the use of electricity to fully decarbonise Europe’s energy supply.

Germany’s energy system is currently undergoing a fundamental transformation based on these priorities. Today’s record levels of intermittent wind and solar energy and the goal to expand renewables to cover 65 percent of electricity consumption by 2030 are posing a challenge to the stability of Germany’s energy system. In addition, it becomes more and more obvious that – despite a strong focus on efficiency – electricity will only be able to cover a part of overall energy consumption. Therefore, electricity will most likely not become the dominant driver for decarbonisation in all sectors.

These developments call for a more strategic utilisation of the gas grid to balance energy demand, keep energy costs low and store renewable energy – so-called sector coupling. It will become an inevitable element of any energy transition. Moreover, it has become increasingly evident that hydrogen produced from natural gas with net-zero CO2 emissions will be an integral part of the solution. What can the EU learn from the energy transition experiences to date? How can it speed up climate protection efforts in its member countries? And what role can hydrogen and the gas grid play in a decarbonised European energy system?