Hydrogen in EU Industry

The report analyzes hydrogen consumption and production in the EU 27, finding that 84% of consumption is concentrated in refining and ammonia production. It argues that decarbonising existing industrial hydrogen production is a more immediate and necessary priority than nascent sectors like mobility. The analysis highlights that while the EU has a production capacity of 10.3 Mt/y, high energy costs and volatile gas prices have led to low utilisation rates and plant closures in the ammonia and steam cracker sectors.

• In 2023, total hydrogen consumption in the EU was 7.3 million tonnes per year (Mt/y), with refining and ammonia production together accounting for 84% of this total.
• Seven EU Member States account for 75% of the region's hydrogen consumption, suggesting that decarbonisation efforts should be prioritised in these countries' industrial clusters and chemical parks.
• The EU's hydrogen production capacity is estimated at 10.3 Mt/y, with an average utilisation rate of 71% in 2023. Approximately 70% of this capacity comes from dedicated production plants, while 30% is provided by refining and chemical plants.
• Germany possesses the largest hydrogen production capacity in the EU, representing 20% of the total, followed by the Netherlands and Poland.
• In the refining sector, approximately 60% of total hydrogen consumption is supplied by dedicated generation plants; therefore, only about 2,400 kt/y of the 4,205 kt/y consumed would need to be replaced by clean hydrogen to decarbonise dedicated production.
• EU ammonia production, which amounted to 10.5 MT/y in 2023, relies on natural gas for 70-80% of its costs. High gas prices and low utilisation have led to plant closures, such as Yara’s 400 kt/y plant in Tertre, Belgium.
• Certain industrial processes, including urea, methanol, and oxo-alcohol production, require carbon atoms currently sourced from fossil gas. These could be decarbonised using electrolytic hydrogen combined with biogenic carbon, though scalability is limited by biomass constraints.

APA

Wakim, G., & Carr, A. (2025). Hydrogen in EU Industry. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/04180154/eu-hydrogen-landscape.pdf

Chicago

Wakim, Ghassan, and Alex Carr. Hydrogen in EU Industry. Clean Air Task Force, 2025. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/04180154/eu-hydrogen-landscape.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wakim |first1=Ghassan |last2=Carr |first2=Alex |title=Hydrogen in EU Industry |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=March 2025 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/04180154/eu-hydrogen-landscape.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wakim2025hydrogen, author = {Wakim, Ghassan and Carr, Alex}, title = {{Hydrogen in EU Industry}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/04180154/eu-hydrogen-landscape.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }