Green hydrogen is reshaping the clean energy landscape by offering a zero-emissions fuel for industrial, transportation, and grid applications.
As concerns about carbon emissions grow and the need to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors intensifies, governments and companies are increasing investments in innovative low-carbon technologies, including green hydrogen.
According to a Frost & Sullivan analysis, Advances in Green Hydrogen Create Opportunity across the Global Power Sector, green hydrogen production is projected to grow to an estimated 5.7 million tons by 2030—highlighting its anticipated role in meeting emissions goals and providing a sustainable energy substitute across many applications.
In this article, we break down what makes hydrogen truly “green”, uncover the key benefits of green hydrogen, and examine recent developments in corporate green hydrogen procurement along with the latest requirements for guaranteeing its renewable origin.
What Is Green Hydrogen?
Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen fuel produced with renewable energy sources, typically by splitting water via electrolysis powered by wind, solar, or other renewables. Unlike “grey” hydrogen made from natural gas (which emits CO₂) or “blue” hydrogen made from fossil fuels with carbon capture, green hydrogen is a carbon zero power source (without CO2 as a by-product).
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates current hydrogen production (mostly grey hydrogen) emits about 830 million tonnes of CO₂ per year, comparable to the annual emissions of the UK and Indonesia combined. Green hydrogen eliminates these emissions by using renewable power for production, making it a clean energy carrier.
Green hydrogen does not emit polluting gases either during combustion or during production. The key is using renewable energy to power an electrolyser. It will then split water into oxygen and (green) hydrogen. Once produced through electrolysis, the hydrogen can be stored, transported and processed for a growing range of applications.
Global Approaches to Defining “Green” Hydrogen
In the EU, green hydrogen is defined under the RFNBO framework as hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable electricity via electrolysis, with its renewable origin verified through Guarantees of Origin (GO). It must meet strict criteria—ensuring additionality, hourly (24/7) temporal matching, and geographic correlation—to guarantee that the power used is truly clean and newly generated.
The US takes a different approach to defining green hydrogen by focusing on carbon intensity rather than prescribing renewables-only. According to this approach, any “clean” power (including existing nuclear or hydro) can be counted as a valid source for green hydrogen. Currently, “green” hydrogen in the U.S. vernacular can include renewable-sourced hydrogen or other low-carbon hydrogen that meets the emissions thresholds.
Japan is developing a certification system for low‐carbon hydrogen based on carbon thresholds rather than a pure renewable mandate, while Australia and other APAC markets employ flexible GO schemes that track lifecycle emissions—allowing annual REC-based balancing—to certify green hydrogen for domestic use and export.
These different approaches mean that what qualifies as “green” in one country may not in another – e.g. a hydrogen batch made with existing hydro power in Canada might be considered low carbon (and subsidy-eligible in the U.S.), but the EU would refuse to count it as renewable hydrogen if that hydro facility wasn’t new or if it wasn’t time-matched to consumption.
Different standards can also shape global investment flows. Regions with looser definitions might attract projects that couldn’t meet EU/US rules, and vice versa. For example, a country like Chile with abundant renewables might choose to adopt EU-like criteria to brand its hydrogen as premium green for export. Meanwhile, a country with cheap gas might focus on blue hydrogen for domestic use or for markets like Asia.
Benefits of Green Hydrogen
- Decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors: Green hydrogen play an important role in the decarbonization of sectors where emissions are hard to abate and alternative solutions are either unavailable or difficult to implement—such as heavy industry and long-distance transport requiring high energy density fuel or intense heat.
Hydrogen has the highest mass energy density of any fuel and could meet the needs of these sectors. For example, hydrogen fuel cell buses typically have a range of approximately 500 km, versus 200 km for electric buses. With this range, hydrogen has both the potential to decarbonise rural transport and to offer a solution for uninterrupted services for long-distance trucking.
- Energy storage and grid flexibility: Green hydrogen offers a way to store excess renewable electricity and balance the grid. During times of oversupply (e.g. windy or sunny periods), electrolysers can convert surplus power into hydrogen, which can be stored for long durations. Later, that hydrogen can be used to generate electricity or heat when renewable output is low – even months later – providing seasonal energy storage.
This helps integrate higher shares of intermittent wind and solar by ensuring a 24/7 energy supply from renewables. For companies seeking 100% renewable energy, green hydrogen can fill gaps when direct renewable supply is insufficient, thus enabling full decarbonization of energy use.
- Energy procurement: Green hydrogen has the potential to improve economic efficiency of renewable investments, enhance security of power supply, and serve as a carbon-free seasonal storage—supplying energy when renewable energy production is low and energy demand is high, e.g., in European winter.
In the case of ACCIONA’s project, “Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca (Green Hysland)”, green hydrogen will have multiple applications. It can be used to fuel buses and rental cars powered by fuel cells via hydrogen filling stations, as an application to tackle hard to abate sectors. It can also generate power for commercial and public buildings, and part of it will be injected into the island's gas grid. This project is a decisive step not only to decarbonize the Balearic Islands, but also to test the real impact of a green hydrogen ecosystem.
To monitor the impact of the project, the GreenH2chain® platform will trace the production and flow of green hydrogen. Based on gathering electricity data like EACs and metering data, the platform will allow final users to verify the transportation and delivery process of green hydrogen and monitor the decarbonization process of their own energy supply.
Explore our case study on the GreenH2Chain® platform by ACCIONA Energía. Discover how Flexidao helped develop the world's first platform that guarantees the renewable origin of green hydrogen—allowing organizations to verify the transportation and delivery process of green hydrogen in real time, from anywhere in the world.
Guaranteeing Green Hydrogen’s Renewable Origin
One challenge as the green hydrogen industry grows is verifying that the hydrogen is truly produced from renewable energy. Because electricity grids are mixed (with renewable and non-renewable sources), a hydrogen producer can only claim “green” status if there is a credible accounting mechanism to trace renewable power from source to electrolyzer.
This is where certification and tracking mechanisms come into play – ensuring customers and regulators can trust that green hydrogen lives up to its name. Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) are the main tool used to certify the renewable origin of energy (what resource was used to generate it and when/where it was produced).
For electricity, common EACs include Guarantees of Origin (GOs) in Europe and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) in North America, each representing 1 MWh of renewable power. By purchasing and “retiring” such certificates, a hydrogen producer can match their electricity consumption with an equivalent amount of renewable generation, substantiating that the hydrogen was made with clean power.
In practice, this means if an electrolyzer draws power from the grid, the operator can buy EACs from a wind or solar farm equivalent to the electricity used. The certificates serve as proof that the hydrogen’s production footprint is renewable (even if the grid power itself was mixed).
24/7 Carbon-Free Energy (CFE)
Passed by the European Commission on the 13th of Feb 2023, the 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy (CFE) latest requirements for green hydrogen are backed by two delegated acts to ensure that hydrogen can fulfil its potential as a genuinely low carbon fuel. These rules have not only impacted the H2 market but played a crucial role in influencing the ongoing Scope 2 amendment discussions for the GHG protocol.
Learn more about the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol’s assessment of the need for additional guidance in Scope 2 emissions in this expert article, which examines several scenarios for how market-based carbon accounting may change.
Here is a summary of the latest requirements:
- Geographical limits: The Commission has revised the "copper plate model" (boundary-less procurement of power and energy certificates), imposing stricter geographical limits. This means that renewable power for green hydrogen must come from the same bidding zone as the electrolyser (or an interconnected zone only if it doesn’t cause grid congestion – indicated by equal or higher power prices in the source zone). An offshore renewable site directly connected into the same zone is also acceptable.
As of 2025, no further tightening beyond the bidding-zone level has been introduced – companies must simply ensure their Guarantees of Origin (GOs) or PPAs link to renewable facilities located in the permitted zone to count the hydrogen as green. Member States may impose additional locational criteria if needed, provided they don’t distort the internal market (e.g. some countries could require even closer proximity).
- Temporal correlation: Hourly matching is on the way, with a phase-in period. Through 2029, hydrogen producers can match their electricity input and renewable output on a monthly basis. This gives early projects some flexibility by allowing the electrolyser’s total monthly consumption to be covered by that month’s renewable generation under contract.
Starting 1 January 2030, however, the EU will require hourly “24/7” matching – hydrogen can only be claimed as fully renewable if it is produced in the same hour that the contracted renewable energy is generated. EU countries even have the option to enforce hourly matching earlier, from mid-2027, if they notify the Commission.
The rules also built in a flexibility trigger: if electricity prices drop very low in a given hour, that hour’s hydrogen output is automatically considered renewably sourced. This recognizes periods of surplus green power (e.g. windy night or sunny off-peak hours) and spares producers from strict matching at those times.
In practice, companies can prepare to implement robust energy tracking systems for clean energy usage, as by 2030 an hourly 24/7 CFE supply for electrolyzers will be mandatory across Europe.
- Granular certification: To comply with the above requirements, hydrogen producers will need granular (time-stamped) certification of the renewable electricity used. The EU’s framework (as updated in 2023) calls for detailed record-keeping “for each hour as relevant,” showing the source of electricity for the hydrogen plant and whether it counted as renewable.
This means that companies must provide hourly evidence that their green hydrogen was made with renewables. European regulators are working to implement granular Guarantees of Origin that include production timestamps, though a unified EU-wide hourly GO system is still in development. Notably, the same rules apply to imported hydrogen: foreign producers exporting to the EU must be certified by recognized schemes and meet identical additionality and correlation criteria.
While granular certificates are not explicitly mandatory yet, in practice any hydrogen labeled “renewable” or “green” for EU purposes must carry the necessary data to demonstrate it met hourly matching and sourcing rules.
- Additionality criteria: Electrolysers must be powered by new renewable energy capacity, to ensure hydrogen production drives fresh renewables deployment rather than diverting existing clean power. Projects starting up before 2028 get a grace period—they can use existing renewables until the end of 2037—but new projects from 2028 onward must procure additional renewables.
Additionality is a key aspect to ensure that electrification doesn't cannibalize existing renewable production unless renewable penetration in the region is >90%. This means that electrolysis plants for the production of hydrogen must be connected to new plants for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources.
- Grid exceptions and low-carbon power: The EU has maintained the provision exempting certain “green” grids from strict additionality, rather than removing it. For instance, a country or bidding zone with grids that are already 90%+ clean or low-carbon, is exempted from the additionality criteria.
In such zones, green hydrogen can be produced with grid electricity without building new renewable plants, on the premise that the grid’s electricity is already about as low-carbon as renewables. The producer does need to prove the renewable origin of the electricity through contracts, typically by sourcing via a renewables PPA or GOs, and still follow hourly matching and location rules, to ensure the electrolyser is drawing on clean power in real time.
The exemption allows largely nuclear/hydro-powered grids to count as “renewable” supply for hydrogen. For companies, this means projects in places like France, Sweden or Norway (with very low-carbon electricity) have more flexibility – they can tap the grid with proper certification instead of having to fund new wind/solar generation.
- Grace periods and grandfathering: Projects that start early get grandfathered status – any electrolyser that begins operation before 1 January 2028 is exempt from the additionality rules until 2038. Until the end of 2029, the temporal correlation requirement is relaxed to a monthly true-up rather than hour-by-hour.
The EU is also allowing the use of existing (non-new) renewable generation under long-term contracts up to 2027. This means that companies can lock in PPAs with already operating wind/solar plants to supply their electrolyser, and it will count as green hydrogen production until the end of 2027.
It’s worth noting that the regulations will be reviewed in 2028, so further adjustments or extensions could be proposed depending on market readiness. Companies can take advantage of these grace periods – e.g. secure renewable PPAs sooner rather than later – but also prepare to comply with the full 24/7 additionality and hourly matching requirements by the end of the decade.
You can view a flowchart of what the latest legislation means, put together by a PHD student at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Malte Schäfer.
Source: Malte Schäfer
Industry Perspectives and Challenges
While it’s important to ensure hydrogen is truly green, many companies and hydrogen project developers have raised concerns about the challenges of meeting the additionality and 24/7 matching requirements.
- Higher costs and lower utilization: Requiring hourly renewable matching will significantly reduce electrolyzer utilization rates (e.g. running only when wind/solar are available) and thus raise the levelized cost of hydrogen. A study found that switching from an annual to hourly matching regime could increase green hydrogen costs on the order of ~25–30%.
On the other hand, regulators and environmental groups argue that without these safeguards, “green” hydrogen production could inadvertently draw clean power from the grid, forcing an increase in fossil fuel generation to cover the shortfall. According to a CSIS analysis, if hydrogen producers simply used existing clean power (or unmatched grid power), the net result could be hydrogen with a larger carbon footprint than even hydrogen from natural gas.
Some studies also suggest the cost impact may be overstated and that clever design (building extra renewables and selling surplus power to the grid during off-peak hydrogen production) can mitigate economic penalties. In Europe, policy support like the Hydrogen Bank and Innovation Fund is being put in place to bridge the cost gap for projects that meet the EU criteria. Many hydrogen project developers are structuring projects to comply – for instance, signing long-term PPAs with new wind and solar farms dedicated to their electrolysers.
Nonetheless, in the short term, hydrogen that is produced with laxer rules (or from fossil fuels with carbon capture) remains cheaper. This raises concerns that if green hydrogen is too expensive, industries might delay switching from conventional hydrogen (gray) or even opt for “blue” hydrogen, which can often undercut green on price.
Truly green hydrogen will likely need subsidies or higher market prices (e.g. via carbon contracts for difference or guaranteed offtake prices) to compete with higher-emission hydrogen.
Flexidao works closely with companies to validate renewable energy sourcing and meet 24/7 CFE commitment. Our end-to-end EAC management and reporting solution tracks renewable coverage performance, generates key disclosure metrics, and optimizes EAC allocation to consumption sites for maximum market-based reductions.
Developments in Green Hydrogen
Green hydrogen is driving attention for two main reasons: its potential in helping decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors and its capacity to increase flexibility in power systems and procurement.
The EU’s hydrogen strategy under the REPowerEU plan, launched in May 2022, has strengthened international partnerships to secure reliable imports of hydrogen. Today, electrolyser manufacturing capacity in the EU has rapidly expanded, the first large-scale hydrogen production facilities (200 MW) are under construction, and the necessary infrastructure is already being planned by future hydrogen network operators.
REPowerEU also includes investments to support the deployment of the hydrogen value chain. Spain and Germany, for instance, finance respectively 700 MW and 300 MW of electrolyser capacity to produce renewable hydrogen.
The first Union list of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) and of Projects of Mutual Interest (PMIs) that was adopted by the Commission in 2023 featured 64 hydrogen and electrolysers projects to help build an infrastructure network across Europe that is fit for a decarbonized future.
Between them, ACCIONA’s Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca (Green Hysland) project has a peculiar importance. In partnership with Flexidao, ACCIONA developed GreenH2chain®, the world's first platform based on blockchain technology, that guarantees the renewable origin of green hydrogen.
GreenH2chain® allows end-users to verify that their hydrogen is truly green by tracking production data in real time (using blockchain records and Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs)), ensuring compliance with energy procurement standards and emissions reduction targets.
On the market side, the EU is witnessing significant momentum in green hydrogen procurement, with both governments and corporations taking steps to secure supply. For instance, in the North Sea region, plans for massive offshore wind-to-hydrogen hubs are underway (e.g. “Hydrogen Bank” projects in the Netherlands and Germany). Southern Europe is also gearing up to produce green hydrogen for export via pipelines or as ammonia (Spain, Portugal, and North Africa collaborations).
The effect of these announcements is a growing pipeline of green hydrogen supply anticipated by 2030, much of which is tied to expected demand from refineries, fertilizer plants, steel mills, and transport fuel suppliers who must meet the EU mandates. Analysts note that Europe’s share of global green hydrogen investment is significant, and the EU could account for a large portion of the 5-6 million tons of green hydrogen/year forecast globally by 2030.
Green Hydrogen in Corporate Energy Procurement
Many companies with net-zero commitments see green hydrogen procurement as part of their strategy to eliminate fossil fuels from their value chain. For instance, companies in refining, chemicals, and shipping are forming alliances to aggregate demand and get projects off the ground. Some are investing directly in hydrogen projects to secure supply (e.g. automotive and oil companies investing in electrolyser ventures).
Furthermore, the movement towards 24/7 CFE is not limited to electricity; forward-looking companies are exploring how to match hydrogen production or consumption with dedicated renewable resources on a 24/7 basis, as required by the EU rules.
Corporate energy buyers also care about the “carbon intensity” of the hydrogen they buy, especially if they account for it in Scope 3 emissions. This is driving demand for data transparency and granularity – buyers want certified proof of how green the hydrogen is, not just that it meets a generic standard. As a result, procurement contracts increasingly specify the certification requirements (e.g. “must have EU RFNBO certification” or equivalent) and data sharing agreements.
At Flexidao, we have extensive experience working with multiple data sources and addressing the unique challenges of granular energy data exchange. Learn more about how corporate clean energy buyers can leverage granular data in our latest whitepaper.
How Does Green Hydrogen Tracking Work?
Following the EU’s temporal correlation rule, there’s growing focus on granular (hourly) energy tracking for hydrogen production. By 2030, Europe will likely have a continent-wide system of hourly energy certificates to support hydrogen producers’ compliance. Any country exporting hydrogen to the EU will also need similar systems to prove their hydrogen was made with renewables on a granular basis.
Electricity data management platforms, like Flexidao’s, excel at proving an event took place by integrating live grid data, PPAs, and certificate issuance, so that a hydrogen producer can automatically get verified proof of renewable usage for each hour of output.
Electricity data like EACs acts as a digital notary which ensures that the green hydrogen sourced by a company is produced with renewable energy.
The process is simple. The platform collects generation data from the renewable energy plant(s). It then verifies the share that is injected in the electrolyser(s) and the amount of hydrogen produced in the process.
Finally, it monitors the delivery of the green hydrogen. Thanks to this audit trail, all information shared in the platform is transparent and easily traceable. Companies are empowered to verify and visualize their entire green hydrogen value chain from anywhere in the world.
In the case of GreenH2chain®, companies also have an overview of all the necessary information on hydrogen consumption to measure their impact on the environment. They can easily prove and share their achievement with any interested stakeholder. GreenH2chain® can be seen as the first unofficial system to certify green hydrogen and the emissions related to it.
Conclusion
Looking ahead, efforts in forums like the G7/G20 or bilateral partnerships can help push for greater alignment in green hydrogen certification – at least to agree on transparency (disclosing carbon intensity and energy sources) so that “apples-to-apples” comparison is possible.
Over time, coordinating core principles like common emissions accounting and a phased approach to tighter temporal matching could create a larger, integrated market for truly green hydrogen.
Flexidao’s clean energy intelligence platform stands out by helping companies to accurately track the origin of their electricity procurement. It is unrivaled in its comprehensive global monitoring capabilities using granular electricity data. Get in touch with us today to discover how our data and digital tools can help you stay ahead in the green hydrogen market of tomorrow.
References
[1] Energy.gov - Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (45V) Resources
[2] IEA.org - Global Hydrogen Review 2024
[3] IRENA.org - Decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors with renewables: Perspectives for the G7
[4] IRENA.org - Making the Breakthrough - Green hydrogen policies and technology costs
[5] Link.Springer.com - Hydrogen production, storage, utilisation and environmental impacts: a review
Don't hesitate to contact our experts to get additional insights on how a platform tracing green hydrogen works and read ACCIONA’s press release on the GreenH2chain® project.
