As according to the EC, a €630 bln clean hydrogen market could be up and running by 2050 and on June 10 2020 Germany lashed out with 9 bln support by 2030, it was clear the French needed to move as well. Et voilà , €3,4 bln by 2023 and up to 7 bln total by 2030 were announced by prime minister Jean Castex on September 3, 2020:

The plan revolves around support for regional actors, a tender for green hydrogen production (electrolyzers) and the development of a French Important Project of Common European Interest, IPCEI.

For Germany, the demand for hydrogen and liquid fuels and raw materials (power-to-liquids) will add up to almost 900 TWh per year by 2050 (Figure 1). About 75 percent of this demand will probably be covered by imports.

Italy SNAM Rete Gas issued a study with the The European House of Ambrosetti that was presented in its famous Annual Forum at Cernobbio (see photo) on September 5, 2020. Marco Alvaro CEO of SNAM Rete gas indicated that ” the study points to some significant prospects, with a potential cumulated production value for the period 2020-2050 of €1,500 billion and the potential creation of over 100,000 jobs by 2030 and 500,000 by 2050. The impact on GDP by 2050 could reach almost €40 billion. In environmental terms, moreover, by 2050 hydrogen can help Italy to reduce its CO₂ emissions by almost one third compared to 2018.” No budget to achieve this potential were indicate in the study.

Last but not least the Dutch governmennt announced on September 7, 2020 a so-called “the Wopke – Wiebesfonds” of € 20 bln for the coming five years as a direct investment in infrastructure (hydrogen is mentioned…), knowledge development, research and innovation. Minimum project budget €30 mln. The Dutch H2 Strategy was outline in a letter to the NL Parliament on April 30, 2020

NRW on November 9, 2020 put in its “4oo bln eurocents” in their latest H2 Strategy in which its ambition for 2025 and 2030 has been outlined:
Detailed 2025 targets:
• First industrial-scale direct-reduced-iron plant for the production of hydrogen-based steel at the Duisburg site
• Power-to-liquid demonstration plant for the production of synthetic fuels and raw materials with a capacity of several 100 tonnes per day
• First large-scale industrial plants for climateneutral ammonia and methanol synthesis
• Test and pilot plant for the pyrolytic production of hydrogen
• More than 400 fuel cell trucks
• At least 20 truck filling stations
• 60 car filling stations
• 500 hydrogen buses for public transport
• The first hydrogen-powered barges
Energy & infrastructure
• Almost 500 kilometres of hydrogen pipeline in Germany, 120 kilometres of which are in North Rhine-Westphalia
• North Rhine-Westphalia connected to the first supra-regional hydrogen lines
• More than 100 megawatt electrolysis plants for industrial hydrogen production
• Natural gas-based electricity and heat generators increasingly developing towards hydrogen compatibility
• Implementation of the hydrogen projects in the rheinish mining district

Detailed 2030 targets:

• Pilot plant for the complete substitution of natural gas by hydrogen for heat generation in glass production
• Integrated use of synthetic fuels and CCU in the tile and brick industry in an industrial scale plant
• Demonstration project for a hydrogen-fired rotary kiln in foundry technology
• Development and evaluation of processes to integrate hydrogen in cement industry
• Implementation of the projects from the „Aufbruch in die Zukunft“ initiative by unternehmer nrw
• Expansion of hydrogen-based steel production
• 11,000 fuel cell trucks over 20 tonnes
• 200 filling stations for trucks and cars
• 1,000 fuel cell waste bins
• 3,800 fuel cell buses for public transport
• 1,300 kilometres of hydrogen pipelines in Germany, 240 kilometres of which are in North Rhine-Westphalia
• First investments in electricity and heat generation plants based on hydrogen
• 1 to 3 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity in North Rhine-Westphalia