France tries to label nuclear as “renewable” in push to the EU for nuclear-produced hydrogen

France leads push for EU to boost nuclear-produced hydrogen

By Kate Abnett 4 Feb 23, BRUSSELS, Feb 3 (Reuters) – France is leading a campaign for the European Union to recognise low-carbon hydrogen produced from nuclear power in its renewable energy rules, but some member states oppose the idea for fear of undermining efforts to quickly scale up wind and solar.

Ministers from France, Poland, the Czech Republic and six other EU countries wrote to the European Commission this week urging it to open up EU renewable energy targets to include hydrogen produced from nuclear energy.

EU countries and lawmakers have been preparing for negotiations next week on the law, which will guide the pace of Europe’s renewable energy expansion this decade.

EU Parliament’s lead negotiator has asked for next week’s talks to be delayed because the European Commission has still not published rules to define “renewable” hydrogen more clearly, which were scheduled for late last year, EU officials said on Friday……………

The nine countries’ letter, seen by Reuters, said the EU should include nuclear energy – which is low-carbon, but not renewable. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/france-leads-push-eu-boost-nuclear-produced-hydrogen-2023-02-03/

February 5, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, politics international