IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v342y2026ics0360544225051552.html

The role of hydrogen offtaker regulation in highly renewable electricity systems

Author

Listed:
  • Schumm, Leon
  • Haas, Jannik
  • Peer, Rebecca
  • Sterner, Michael

Abstract

The growing demand for green hydrogen necessitates a rapid scale-up of production and exports to meet decarbonization targets globally. However, current ramp-up efforts remain insufficient, calling for policies that unlock the potential of hydrogen as a low-carbon energy carrier. A key lever is the offtaker regulation, which impacts the pace and sustainability of export projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Schumm, Leon & Haas, Jannik & Peer, Rebecca & Sterner, Michael, 2026. "The role of hydrogen offtaker regulation in highly renewable electricity systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:342:y:2026:i:c:s0360544225051552
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.139513
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225051552
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.139513?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adrian Odenweller & Falko Ueckerdt & Gregory F. Nemet & Miha Jensterle & Gunnar Luderer, 2022. "Probabilistic feasibility space of scaling up green hydrogen supply," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(9), pages 854-865, September.
    2. Münster, Marie & Bramstoft, Rasmus & Bregnbæk, Lars & Campion, Nicolas & Kjærgård Hald, Mathias & Eleftheriou, Dimitrios & Karlsson, Kenneth & Koumparakis, Christos & Kountouris, Ioannis & Radoszynski, 2025. "Modelling hydrogen in sector coupled energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).
    3. Adrian Odenweller & Falko Ueckerdt, 2025. "The green hydrogen ambition and implementation gap," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 110-123, January.
    4. Spittler, Nathalie & Davidsdottir, Brynhildur & Shafiei, Ehsan & Leaver, Jonathan & Asgeirsson, Eyjolfur Ingi & Stefansson, Hlynur, 2020. "The role of geothermal resources in sustainable power system planning in Iceland," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 1081-1090.
    5. Falko Ueckerdt & Christian Bauer & Alois Dirnaichner & Jordan Everall & Romain Sacchi & Gunnar Luderer, 2021. "Potential and risks of hydrogen-based e-fuels in climate change mitigation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 11(5), pages 384-393, May.
    6. Beaucour, Robinson & Lamaison, Nicolas, 2024. "Operational long-term management of a salt cavern for industry targeted green H2 production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    7. Leon Schumm & Hazem Abdel-Khalek & Tom Brown & Falko Ueckerdt & Michael Sterner & Maximilian Parzen & Davide Fioriti, 2025. "The impact of temporal hydrogen regulation on hydrogen exporters and their domestic energy transition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Ruhnau, Oliver & Schiele, Johanna, 2023. "Flexible green hydrogen: The effect of relaxing simultaneity requirements on project design, economics, and power sector emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    9. Alé, Melissa & Yeligeti, Madhura & Canessa, Rafaella & Wetzel, Manuel & Moreno, Rodrigo & Peer, Rebecca & Gils, Hans-Christian & Haas, Jannik, 2026. "Can distributed hydrogen production improve the earthquake resilience of power systems?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 403(PA).
    10. Jonathan Brandt & Thore Iversen & Christoph Eckert & Florian Peterssen & Boris Bensmann & Astrid Bensmann & Michael Beer & Hartmut Weyer & Richard Hanke-Rauschenbach, 2024. "Cost and competitiveness of green hydrogen and the effects of the European Union regulatory framework," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 9(6), pages 703-713, June.
    11. Kelly, Geoff, 2011. "History and potential of renewable energy development in New Zealand," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 2501-2509, June.
    12. Adrian Odenweller & Falko Ueckerdt, 2024. "The green hydrogen ambition and implementation gap," Papers 2406.07210, arXiv.org.
    13. Abdel-Khalek, Hazem & Schumm, Leon & Jalbout, Eddy & Parzen, Maximilian & Schauß, Caspar & Fioriti, Davide, 2025. "PyPSA-Earth sector-coupled: A global open-source multi-energy system model showcased for hydrogen applications in countries of the Global South," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 383(C).
    14. David Franzmann & Heidi Heinrichs & Felix Lippkau & Thushara Addanki & Christoph Winkler & Patrick Buchenberg & Thomas Hamacher & Markus Blesl & Jochen Lin{ss}en & Detlef Stolten, 2023. "Green Hydrogen Cost-Potentials for Global Trade," Papers 2303.00314, arXiv.org, revised May 2023.
    15. Davide Tonelli & Lorenzo Rosa & Paolo Gabrielli & Ken Caldeira & Alessandro Parente & Francesco Contino, 2023. "Global land and water limits to electrolytic hydrogen production using wind and solar resources," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    16. Michael A. Giovanniello & Anna N. Cybulsky & Tim Schittekatte & Dharik S. Mallapragada, 2024. "The influence of additionality and time-matching requirements on the emissions from grid-connected hydrogen production," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 9(2), pages 197-207, February.
    17. Dorel Stoica & Lucian Mihăescu & Gheorghe Lăzăroiu & George Cristian Lăzăroiu, 2024. "The Technical and Economic Aspects of Integrating Energy Sectors for Climate Neutrality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-21, September.
    18. Aleh Cherp & Vadim Vinichenko & Jale Tosun & Joel A. Gordon & Jessica Jewell, 2021. "National growth dynamics of wind and solar power compared to the growth required for global climate targets," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(7), pages 742-754, July.
    19. Azadnia, Amir Hossein & McDaid, Conor & Andwari, Amin Mahmoudzadeh & Hosseini, Seyed Ehsan, 2023. "Green hydrogen supply chain risk analysis: A european hard-to-abate sectors perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    20. Herc, Luka & Pfeifer, Antun & Duić, Neven & Wang, Fei, 2022. "Economic viability of flexibility options for smart energy systems with high penetration of renewable energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    21. Gulagi, Ashish & Keiner, Dominik & Canessa, Rafaella & Satymov, Rasul & ElSayed, Mai & Peer, Rebecca & Haas, Jannik & Breyer, Christian, 2025. "Analysing techno-economic impacts of integrating wave power to achieve carbon neutrality and electricity based fuel exports: A case for New Zealand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    22. Ma, Xuran & Wang, Meng & Wang, Peng & Wang, Yixin & Mao, Ding & Kosonen, Risto, 2024. "Energy supply structure optimization of integrated energy system considering load uncertainty at the planning stage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Linsel, Oliver & Bertsch, Valentin, 2026. "Effects of the delegated act on renewable fuels of non-biological origin on production costs and distribution of hydrogen production capacities across Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leon Schumm & Hazem Abdel-Khalek & Tom Brown & Falko Ueckerdt & Michael Sterner & Maximilian Parzen & Davide Fioriti, 2025. "The impact of temporal hydrogen regulation on hydrogen exporters and their domestic energy transition," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Tom Terlouw & Christian Moretti & Carina Harpprecht & Romain Sacchi & Russell McKenna & Christian Bauer, 2025. "Global greenhouse gas emissions mitigation potential of existing and planned hydrogen projects," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 10(12), pages 1503-1515, December.
    3. Driemeier, Carlos E. & Tonon, Giovana C. & Chagas, Mateus F. & Petrielli, Gabriel P. & Henzler, Daniele S. & Gomes, Luísa C.M. & Limeira, Bruno E. & Hernandes, Thayse A.D. & Morais, Edvaldo R., 2025. "Electrolytic hydrogen in a large-scale decarbonized grid with energy reservoirs: An assessment of carbon intensity and integrity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 391(C).
    4. Silvian M. Radke & Philipp C. Verpoort & Falko Ueckerdt & Felix Musgens, 2026. "Planning resilient hydrogen supply chains under disruption risk," Papers 2606.09190, arXiv.org.
    5. Guillotin, Arnauld & Bergaentzlé, Claire & Dussartre, Virginie & Heggarty, Thomas & Massol, Olivier & Perez, Yannick, 2025. "Hydrogen subsidies under three pillar-frameworks: A Europe-United States multi-stakeholder comparison," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    6. Bühler, Lauritz & Scharf, Hendrik, 2025. "Green Hydrogen in the European Union – A large-scale assessment of the supply potential and economic viability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 401(PA).
    7. Adrian Odenweller & Falko Ueckerdt, 2025. "The green hydrogen ambition and implementation gap," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 110-123, January.
    8. Li, Chengzhe & Beck, Fiona J. & Thomas, Michael, 2026. "How the interplay between grid characteristics and renewable resources determines optimal temporal correlation for grid-connected hydrogen certification," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    9. Mukelabai, M.D. & Blanchard, R.E., 2025. "The triadic impact of hydrogen production, electricity generation, and policies on hydrogen feasibility," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 394(C).
    10. Adrian Odenweller & Falko Ueckerdt, 2024. "The green hydrogen ambition and implementation gap," Papers 2406.07210, arXiv.org.
    11. Förster, Robert & Eiser, Niklas & Kaiser, Matthias & Buhl, Hans Ulrich, 2025. "Leveraging synergies for energy-flexible operated electrolysis: A techno-economic analysis of power purchase agreement procurement with battery energy storage systems for renewable hydrogen production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 393(C).
    12. Felix Schreyer & Falko Ueckerdt & Robert Pietzcker & Adrian Odenweller & Anne Merfort & Renato Rodrigues & Jessica Strefler & Fabrice Lécuyer & Gunnar Luderer, 2025. "From net-zero to zero-fossil in transforming the EU energy system," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, December.
    13. Al-Ghussain, Loiy & Lu, Zifeng & Alrbai, Mohammad & Al-Dahidi, Sameer & He, Xin & Elgowainy, Amgad & Wang, Michael, 2025. "Global techno-economic and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions assessment of solar and wind based renewable hydrogen production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 401(PA).
    14. Millinger, M. & Reichenberg, L. & Hedenus, F. & Berndes, G. & Zeyen, E. & Brown, T., 2022. "Are biofuel mandates cost-effective? - An analysis of transport fuels and biomass usage to achieve emissions targets in the European energy system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    15. Shi, Rong & Chen, Yue & Yang, Shuxia & Wang, Xiongfei, 2026. "Value co-creation in the renewable energy-hydrogen-methanol chain: A complex network evolutionary game under multi-market contexts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 409(C).
    16. Mingolla, Stefano & Rosa, Lorenzo, 2026. "Techno-economic feasibility of centralized and decentralized ammonia production in the United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 226(PE).
    17. Fazeli, Reza & Longden, Thomas & Beck, Fiona J., 2025. "Dynamics of price-based competition between blue and green hydrogen with net zero emissions targets," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    18. Ifeanyi Michael Smarte Anekwe & Darlington Ashiegbu & Yusuf Makarfi Isa & Herman Potgieter, 2025. "Circular economy and energy transition: a review of South Africa’s 5-year just energy transition investment plan (JET-IP)," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 30(6), pages 1-46, August.
    19. Tom Terlouw & Lorenzo Rosa & Christian Bauer & Russell McKenna, 2024. "Future hydrogen economies imply environmental trade-offs and a supply-demand mismatch," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    20. Apoorv Lal & Massimo Tavoni & Nathan Preuss & Fengqi You, 2026. "Aligning EU energy security and climate mitigation through targeted transition strategies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:342:y:2026:i:c:s0360544225051552. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.