Two major developments in the hydrogen sector last week.

On the one hand, oil and gas majors started announcing investments in green hydrogen as part of green measures asked by the society (and activist stakeholders). This is the case for France’s TotalEnergies and Russia's gas producer Novatek in Russia, but also for Lightsource bp in Portugal (Si apre in una nuova finestra), and Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

On the other hand, hydrogen policies in north-west Europe are increasingly consistent and self-reinforcing: the Netherlands are setting up an hydrogen exchange (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Belgium’s hydrogen solutions developer CMB.TECH opened a multimodal refuelling station in Antwerp (Si apre in una nuova finestra), Germany’s Siemens Mobility (Si apre in una nuova finestra) is continuing research on Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) technology in rail transport, while Danish companies flexed their muscles.

Denmark's Ørsted and utility Hofor started a collaboration (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to realise “Denmark's great potential as a producer of sustainable fuels for heavy transport,” while Danish electrolyzer maker Green Hydrogen Systems (Si apre in una nuova finestra) announced its intention to launch an Initial Public Offering on Nasdaq Copenhagen.

Meanwhile, European companies continue to coordinate with Australian companies and start exploring the huge potentials of hydrogen production in the African continent. For instance, the government of Mauritania and renewable energy developer CWP Global (founded in 2007 in Southeast Europe) have signed a MoU for a 30 GW power-to-X project (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Last EU week: long-term investments

“Following the approval of the Own Resources Decision by all EU Member States, the Commission can now start raising resources to finance Europe's recovery through NextGenerationEU,” the European Commission wrote last week (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

According to Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, the first payments on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) are expected to be disbursed in July.

The European Commission published its Spring Package, including the assessment on the Stability and Growth Pact. The Stability Pact has been suspended until the end of 2022, with the possibility of reactivating it in 2023.

The Council adopted conclusions on the Commission's strategy for sustainable and smart mobility. Railways are a central part in the European vision. Great interest in the modal shift from road to rail.

Meetings between European and African institutions last week. Simson participated in the ceremony for the launch of the African Single Electricity Market (Si apre in una nuova finestra), the president of the EIB met with the Tunisian president (Si apre in una nuova finestra) to speak also about climate change and energy transition.

Charles Michel spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. "Regarding Libya, both presidents agreed on the shared interest of Egypt and the EU in a stable and united Libya. Both presidents stressed the importance of supporting the government of national unity and the efforts of the United Nations in making progress on the various political, security and economic avenues, including the withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from the country," reads a note released by the Council (Si apre in una nuova finestra).

Ursula von der Leyen and Breakthrough Energy founder Bill Gates announced the collaboration between the private fund and the EU executive to fund innovative projects that can lead to a major reduction in CO2 emissions in Europe.

The Commission has selected 72 research and innovation projects under the European Green Deal Call.

Romania will exit coal by 2032 and adopt a law by mid-2022 to manage mine closures and adopt socioeconomic measures to support coal communities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that the first line of Nord Stream 2 has been completed. Work continues on the second part of the pipeline. The testing should start this week.

This EU week: TEN-E

The Council will be the protagonist of this EU week. Today (Si apre in una nuova finestra) the Justice and Home Affairs Council on the Digital Services Act, tomorrow on artificial intelligence.

On Thursday, the Environment Council on the Battery and Battery Waste Regulation. The EU Ministers could also approve conclusions on the new climate change adaptation strategy.

The week ends on a high note with the Energy Council on Friday (Si apre in una nuova finestra). Main topic on the agenda: discussions on the revision of the TEN-E regulation. As anticipated last week, "projects of mutual interest” are expected to play an increasingly important role.

The Energy Ministers will also discuss the European hydrogen strategy presented by the Commission. There will also be references to Belarus, Russia and energy relations with third countries.

A delegation from the Slovenian government will present the energy work program of the Slovenian presidency (which begins on July 1).

Representatives of the Council will also participate in the G7 summit in Cornwall (Si apre in una nuova finestra) from Friday to Sunday.

This week the European Commission will attend the plenary session of the Parliament, hear foundations, industry groups, environmentalists and German politicians.

Commission VP Margrethe Vestager will participate in two meetings organized by German institutions. These will certainly be a first test for the Danish politicians, after the accusations that Danish authorities have carried out espionage activities in collaboration with the United States against German leaders.

The Commission will also talk to energy-intensive industries and participate in the signing of a new research center for energy transition in the Western Balkans.