IN Brief:
- Two consultation routes opened on 26 October to inform the EU’s forthcoming Hydrogen Strategy.
- The Commission acknowledges that hydrogen production, use and operational capacity have expanded more slowly than anticipated.
- Public and targeted stakeholder submissions close on 23 November 2026.
The European Commission has opened two consultations to shape a renewed European hydrogen strategy, seeking evidence from industrial consumers, producers, infrastructure operators and other stakeholders as the sector confronts slower-than-expected deployment. Both exercises began on 26 October 2026 and are due to close on 23 November. They comprise a wider call for evidence and a targeted questionnaire for organisations involved in the hydrogen market. The launch begins a policy-development exercise; it does not establish new financial support, set revised production targets or bring a new regulatory framework into force.
The consultation follows the European Hydrogen Strategy introduced in 2020 and subsequent legislation intended to support renewable and low-carbon hydrogen. The Commission acknowledges that production and use have developed more slowly than originally envisaged, with limited operational capacity and difficulties bringing projects to sufficient maturity. Its stated aim is to create a more resilient and competitive value chain while offering investors greater stability and predictability. That framing puts actual investment and delivery, rather than project announcements alone, at the centre of the new work.
Potential participants include public authorities and energy regulators, hydrogen producers, users of hydrogen and hydrogen-derived products, network operators, technology suppliers and financial institutions. The scope also explicitly extends to users in industrial processes, agriculture, aviation and maritime transport. These groups face different issues. Developers must secure electricity, land, equipment and suitable outlets for their production. Consumers need assurance about supply, specifications and cost before changing their processes. Network businesses must assess whether dedicated transport or storage infrastructure will have sufficient demand to justify investment.
For producers using electrolysis, electricity prices, connection availability and operating hours influence the economics of a project. An electrolyser converts electrical energy into chemical energy through the production of hydrogen from water, and it must operate within its technical and commercial limits. Building electrolyser capacity without dependable electricity supply or an identified customer does not in itself establish a viable hydrogen market. Equally, potential users can struggle to justify conversion of furnaces, chemical processes or logistics systems before hydrogen procurement becomes sufficiently certain. The sequencing of generation, production and demand is therefore a practical engineering issue as well as a policy question.
Infrastructure adds another layer of coordination. Industrial users may require on-site equipment, local pipelines, compression, storage or transport arrangements to connect production with consumption. Some proposed installations can be close to end users; others envisage regional or cross-border networks. The appropriate configuration will depend on geography, volumes, safety requirements and contractual demand. The consultation is intended to collect views on the conditions facing such projects, not to approve a particular pipeline or identify guaranteed offtake for a development already in the planning system.
The Commission says the new strategy is being prepared alongside the renewable energy framework for the period to 2040. That link reflects the relationship between hydrogen production and the future electricity system: increased renewable generation may create additional opportunities for low-emissions hydrogen, but generation and electrolyser operations still need to be coordinated. The Commission also cites geopolitical pressure to reduce Europe’s reliance on imported fossil fuels. Hydrogen can play a role in that wider energy discussion, although its suitability and environmental characteristics depend on how it is produced, transported and used.
The public call for evidence provides a general channel for views on the future strategy’s objectives. The targeted questionnaire gives market participants a more detailed means of describing technical, investment and regulatory barriers. The latter is open to bodies across the hydrogen value chain and has a stated deadline of 23:59 Central European Time on 23 November. Participation does not confer eligibility for a grant or a right to build energy infrastructure. It is an opportunity to inform the Commission before it defines the next policy steps.
For engineering firms and industrial energy users, the key test will come after the consultation closes. Any final strategy will need to explain how policymakers intend to improve the relationship between announced electrolyser projects, electricity networks, transport infrastructure and firm demand. These are the conditions that determine whether equipment moves from procurement and testing to sustained industrial operation. Until the Commission publishes its conclusions and any subsequent measures, the current development is the opening of the evidence-gathering process, with future policy choices still unresolved.
