Any delays in low-carbon fuel regulations could hinder the growth of the hydrogen and nuclear industries.
Under EU draft plans following the launch of the Clean Industrial Deal, Brussels will not start consulting on nuclear until June 2026 and hydrogen produced from nuclear would not be classified ‘low carbon’ until 2028, according to reports.
A wave of policy updates are currently landing in Europe – with tight timeframes attached.
Alongside the Clean Industrial Deal, the European Green Deal includes a commitment to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. This is why nuclear is gaining attention.
Nuclear power itself is considered low-carbon due to minimal greenhouse gas emissions during electricity generation.
However, when you factor in the entire lifecycle, such as mining, fuel processing, construction and decommissioning, the picture is more complex; and plant construction is notoriously slow, another challenge with decarbonisation targets looming ever closer into view.
The EU passed rules in 2023 confirming how hydrogen produced from renewable energy can count towards Europe’s green goals.
It is exploring the role of nuclear power in hydrogen production, particularly through electrolysis using electricity from nuclear plants – so called ‘pink hydrogen’ – but this technology is unproven at industrial scale.
Nuclear fission, the process that generates heat to produce electricity, does not produce CO2 or other greenhouse gases but building new plants is expensive and lengthy and CO2-intensive in itself.
The EU depends on nuclear power for about a quarter of its electricity, and a higher proportion of baseload power.
Under the Net Zero Industry Act, Europe must produce 40% of its annual deployment needs in net-zero technologies by 2030 and capture 25% of the global market value for these technologies.
Nuclear plant construction is currently under way in only two EU member states – France and Slovakia. These construction projects have experienced cost overruns and delays. The UK, now outside of the EU, also has a two-reactor nuclear build in progress by the French company EDF.
Germany is now open to courting nuclear again. Speaking at Davos in January, ahead of his appointment as Chancellor, Friedrich Merz said, “We made two mistakes: one was in 2011 to get out of nuclear, and the second big mistake, and this was terrible for our economy, was closing the last three nuclear plants in April 2023… We are open to new nuclear plants in terms of fourth and fifth generation, including fusion.” Denmark is considering lifting a 40-year-old ban on nuclear power to enhance its energy security.
Further new units likely to come online within the next 15 years are outlined in the table below.
Source: World Nuclear Association
