‘Sustainable’ gas taxonomy will affect hydrogen

Medium-to-long-term outlook for clean hydrogen remains strong despite short-term disruption from gas market interplay

The EU’s recently proposed new green finance taxonomy, which classifies gas and nuclear power as sustainable, will increase investment in both technologies and could influence the way the hydrogen market develops, according to experts. The move aims to increase private sector investment in gas and nuclear to replace capacity lost by the closure of coal plants. The private sector has been reluctant to invest in new gas capacity in Europe for fear of creating stranded assets, according to James West, senior managing director at investment bank and advisory group Evercore. “Companies were not willing to invest because of the uncertain outlook,” he says. “The EU considering, and hopefully puttin