22 October, 2026
Ready4H2 took part in the recent workshop in Brussels on the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), organised by the German Economic Institute (IW Köln) and Frontier Economics. The IAA aims for public procurement and the allocation of public incentives to prioritise low-emission products manufactured in the EU. Participants agreed in principal with the objectives, but warned that implementation will be difficult, notably verification of the origin and carbon content of products and clarity of the rules and scope.
The stakes are high for hydrogen DSOs; components such as steel pipes, valves and compressors could fall under the new requirements, and it is unclear which operators would be required to apply them. Publicly-owned DSOs, bound by procurement rules, risk incurring costs that other operators might be able to avoid that would need to be recovered in network tariffs.
For the IAA to be an effective tool all operators must be treated equally, and ownership structure should not determine who pays more for the same project. DSOs need a clear list of network components affected as well as cost and delay exemptions for regulated investments. Finally, the rules should recognise that additional network costs will be passed on through tariffs and ultimately borne by the first hydrogen users. These details will determine whether the IAA helps to kick-start European hydrogen networks or ends up holding them back.
