26 bilateral deals to import hydrogen into Europe

The European Union wants to import 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030 under REPowerEU. A study published in the journal Sustainability, by researchers at Girne American University, mapped 26 bilateral green hydrogen agreements signed between 2020 and 2024: half are memoranda of understanding, and Germany and the European Union appear in 69.2% of them.

The study maps diplomacy and does not address where the equipment that would turn these agreements into production comes from. The International Energy Agency, in the Global Hydrogen Review 2025, records that China holds around 60% of global electrolyser manufacturing capacity and 65% of the electrolysis capacity installed worldwide, based on 2024 data.

A bilateral agreement defines the buyer and the certification, not the electrolyser supplier. A project signed in Morocco or Namibia with a European counterparty remains exposed to delivery times, compliance with local standards and maintenance costs defined outside the two parties to the agreement.

The origin of the electrolyser is the variable that decides whether the diplomatic agreement becomes installed capacity.