REPowerEU: Commissioner Simson in Germany to discuss the energy transition

Today, Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, is in Germany to take stock of the progress achieved over the past year in replacing Russian fossil fuels in the German and EU energy mix, as set out in the REPowerEU Plan. The Commissioner will in particular see examples of technological progress in the hydrogen sector.

Germany, which in 2021 had a 65% import dependency on Russian natural gas, has undergone major diversification efforts, reducing its reliance on Russian gas to zero since last summer. In 2022, it also achieved significant progress as regards clean energy, with its annual growth rate of installed renewables power capacity rising from 5% to 7%, compared to 2021. More information on REPowerEU One Year Later in Germany is available here.

Upon her arrival in Hanover, the Commissioner will hold a bilateral meeting with Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck. After that, she will visit the Salzgitter’s Salcos project, which aims to produce CO2-free steel through the use of renewables-based hydrogen.
Renewable hydrogen is key to replace natural gas, coal and oil in hard-to-decarbonise industries and transport. As set out in REPowerEU, the EU is aiming to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen domestically and to import additional 10 million tonnes annually by 2030. To support this process, the Commission presented earlier this year the design and functions of the European Hydrogen Bank.