Industry group Hydrogen Denmark and some of its member companies have criticised the country's draft to transpose EU hydrogen transport targets into Danish law, and have urged Copenhagen to adjust the rules before they are finalised in May.
Companies with hydrogen projects, including Everfuel, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and European Energy, signed an open letter calling for changes, as did fuel producer Crossbridge Energy, which runs the 67,000 b/d Fredericia oil refinery and has an offtake deal for hydrogen from Everfuel.
The group said Denmark's targets are unambitious and too low to spur significant demand and help the country realise its goal to export 'green' energy. The draft rules would effectively mean Danish fuel companies supply 1pc renewable hydrogen and derivatives to the transport sector by 2030, which was the minimum goal set by Brussels.
The group urged Denmark to aim above the EU target, following member states like Finland that has set a 4pc target. The group also wants Denmark to phase in the quota with incremental increases each year until 2030 starting as early as 2026, to aid first-mover projects and generate experience that ensures Denmark can successfully meet the binding EU target that starts in 2030.
The group also warned Denmark must not exclude use of subsidised hydrogen from counting towards transport targets. This would ruin the business case for many hydrogen production projects and could steer Danish producers towards exports and mean Denmark effectively subsidises neighbours like Germany to meet its own mandates, it said.
The group's concerns stem from language around 'supported' projects in the draft text, which it understands to refer to state aid.
If left unchanged, the rule would affect projects that Denmark has subsidised through its power-to-X tender and Danish projects that may hope to benefit from EU-level funds like the European Hydrogen Bank or the Innovation Fund.
The industry group praised Copenhagen's plan to allow renewable hydrogen switching in refineries to count towards the targets. This mechanism, known as the refinery route in some European countries, has been called "elegant" by market participants because it should raise demand for hydrogen in the near term and is a logistically simpler way to cut CO2 than converting refuelling stations and vehicle fleets to use hydrogen.
Denmark appears to have allowed the rule without limiting the value of credits, unlike the Netherlands where a 'multiplier' rankled industry participants.
Allowing the refinery route will probably please Everfuel and Crossbridge Energy, as the latter had complained Denmark was not supporting its refinery 20MW fuel switching project unlike EU peers.
Copenhagen had planned to set the draft mandates into law by 21 May — the deadline set under the EU's revised renewable energy directive (REDIII) — but it remains to be seen if it will press ahead with this timeline given industry has demanded changes.
