Getting Europe’s Industrial Policy Right: Why Electrolyzers Matter Now
Europe is at a strategic inflection point. The debate is no longer about technological feasibility, but about industrial execution. The choices made today will determine whether Europe scales and sells its technology globally – or remains an idea exporter while others turn those ideas into projects, markets, industrial value.
Two Initiatives Shifting the Debate
Europe has no shortage of ambition. What it increasingly lacks is follow-through. This is why two recent initiatives matter – and shift the debate toward execution: the Call for a European Preference and the Electrolysers for Europe Manifesto.
The Call for a European Preference, initiated by Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice President of the European Commission, and supported by more than 1,000 industry leaders, is built on a simple principle: when public money is spent in Europe, it should strengthen European value creation, skilled jobs, and strategic resilience.
Electrolysers for Europe, launched by leading European electrolyzer manufacturers including thyssenkrupp nucera, underlines electrolyzers as a strategic asset in their Manifesto: they strengthen energy security, stabilize grids by absorbing surplus renewable power, and anchor strong European value chains with global export potential. The initiative calls for faster, more predictable and bankable demand creation, clear and workable regulatory hydrogen definitions, and funding frameworks that enable scale.
Together, these initiatives move the discussion to where it needs to be now: execution, industrial scale, and strategic coherence.
Electrolyzers as a System Enabler
Electrolyzers sit at the center of this shift. They will play a critical role in Europe’s energy transition, industrial resilience, and overall energy system by absorbing surplus renewable electricity, stabilizing power grids, and increasing overall system flexibility – a matter of cost efficiency and resilience. The debate is no longer focused only on their relevance for climate protection. It is about whether Europe turns its knowledge and patents into projects at scale, growth, and prosperity – or remains exposed to fossil fuel imports and geopolitical risk. Success will depend on whether markets are created and projects reach final investment decisions.
Without electrolysis, an energy system based on renewables becomes more expensive, less flexible, and more vulnerable to shocks. In this sense, electrolyzers are not merely industrial equipment; they are a key enabler of a resilient and efficient European energy system.
By converting abundant local renewable and low-carbon electricity into hydrogen – a storable and transportable molecule – they make renewable power more accessible, strengthen energy security, and enable the decarbonization of a wide range of applications.
An Industrial Opportunity Europe Must Lead
Beyond their system value, electrolyzers represent a major industrial opportunity. They offer Europe a critical chance to secure a substantial share of future green fuel value chains. While the global market for clean fuels is currently developing more slowly than anticipated, it will generate significant economic opportunities over the coming years and decades. At the same time, Europe faces a slowly developing home market, while global competitors – particularly China – are scaling up at speed.
This is precisely the risk highlighted by both initiatives: without rapid deployment at home, Europe’s technological leadership risks stopping at the factory gate. Market positions must be secured now – before value chains are dominated by others and Europe is reduced to the role of a “paying offtaker.”
Europe is not starting from zero. European manufacturers have anchored hydrogen value chains across the continent – from critical components to full system integration. We have delivered on commitments, scaled production capacity, and demonstrated the ability to supply world-class technology at industrial scale. The industrial foundation is in place.
What is missing is not production capacity, but the speed and scale of deployment – driven by ambitious regulatory requirements.
Aligning Policy with Industry Needs
At both the European and national level, there are clear political commitments to strengthen industrial growth and production as a central pillar of the economy and a source of future jobs, innovation, and revenues. In short: the political commitment exists – and so does the production capacity.
What is missing are the concrete regulations that trigger investment decisions. This is exactly where the Call for a European Preference and the Electrolysers for Europe Manifesto converge: accelerating market demand for renewable and low-carbon electrolytic hydrogen, simplifying and harmonizing regulation, and providing long-term investment certainty. Concretely, this requires:
- predictable demand-side instruments and effective market creation, such as RED III and lead markets;
- clear, workable, and harmonized definitions – most notably a review of RFNBO by end of 2026;
- funding mechanisms that include “made in Europe” provisions.
Market forces driven by growing demand and competitive supply would reduce costs, funding needs, and investor risk. Binding and monetizable RFNBO compliance, combined with EU-wide book-and-claim mechanisms and revised delegated acts, would ease RED III implementation across Member States, accelerate industrial and transport projects, and deliver earlier emissions reductions – while laying the groundwork for Europe’s hydrogen backbone.
If Europe mobilizes substantial public funding, those investments must consistently strengthen European value creation, industrial capacity, and technological leadership.
The Payoff: Competitiveness, Resilience, Sovereignty
Anchoring electrolyzer manufacturing and critical component supply chains in Europe strengthens resilience, reduces reliance on third-country imports – both for technology and energy carriers – and secures high-value industrial jobs.
If Europe gets this right, the payoff is clear: a competitive, sovereign, and resilient Europe that does not only invent clean-energy technologies, but builds, scales, and exports them. It means actively shaping strategic value chains instead of relying on imports – and turning innovation into industrial value creation at home.
A Clear Call to Action
The message of both initiatives is clear: ambition must now translate into execution.
This is not about individual projects or programs. It is about a strategic choice – whether Europe builds its industrial future itself, or leaves scale and value creation to others.
The moment to act is now.
Electrolyzers can – and must – be Europe’s next success story.
