The EU 'Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gases' Legislative Package and its Implications for Private Investment in Hydrogen Infrastructure Development

Abstract

The article focuses on the newly adopted EU hydrogen and decarbonised gases legislative package in terms of its approach towards the hydrogen infrastructure and its impact on the stimulation of the development of EU hydrogen trade, consumption and production. The new legislative package preserves the key features of the previous regulation of natural gas infrastructure, where acquis guarantees the independence of infrastructure operators, regulated third-party access based on the preestablished tariffs, and limited exemptions for the involvement of the suppliers - also providing limited transitional period for most of the infrastructure facilities. The key dilemma considering the new infrastructure rules relates to their potential negative impact on the market's interest in bidding for new capacity, which can also lead to high public costs of the subsidised infrastructure projects, redundancy of assets, and mismatching between the demand sides and available routes for hydrogen transportation. The article will explore the new rules themselves and their impact throughout the future hydrogen value-chains, making the general conclusions regarding the ultimate impact of the EU hydrogen regulation on the future market dynamics.

The EU 'Hydrogen and Decarbonised Gases' Legislative Package and its Implications for Private Investment in Hydrogen Infrastructure Development is part of the OGEL 3 (2024) Special Issue on "Contractual, Legal, and Regulatory Dynamics for Hydrogen Projects and Markets" and is available here www.ogel.org/article.asp?key=4139 (sign in to download).