Water Availability Emerges as Critical Factor in Europe’s Green Hydrogen Ambitions

Europe’s push for green hydrogen is gathering pace, but a new study from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has identified a constraint that many policymakers have overlooked: local water supply.

Green hydrogen is produced through electrolysis — splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity — and while the process is climate-friendly, large-scale deployment requires sustainable water management to avoid shortages and conflicts with agriculture.

Under the REPowerEU plan, Europe is targeting 10 million tonnes of homegrown renewable hydrogen by 2030, with further expansion toward 2050 net-zero goals. But the Chalmers research, published in Nature Sustainability, suggests the siting of that production capacity will be far more constrained than current plans acknowledge.

The study finds that around 20% of water used for hydrogen production is projected to occur in areas already facing extremely high water stress risk — and that local water stress from hydrogen production could become severe in some regions.

The core tension is geographic. Electrolysers need to be close to both industrial demand centres and renewable energy sources — yet these locations frequently coincide with areas where water resources are already overstretched. Southern and central Europe, with strong solar and wind potential, often suffer chronic water limitations.

The study analysed over 700 water sub-basins across Europe. In southern and central Europe in particular, access to water is estimated to be very limited by 2050, as local resources are already under pressure from climate change.

Crucially, the research also finds that the electricity investment required for green hydrogen need not push up consumer energy prices significantly. In regions with strong renewable resources, such as northern Europe, the price impact is expected to be smallest. In southern Europe, where gas and nuclear play a larger role, some price increases are anticipated — though the researchers argue this should not deter investment in clean electricity generation.

On land use, the picture is more encouraging. A large-scale expansion of solar and wind for hydrogen production would occupy only a small fraction of current agricultural land — significantly less than would be needed to produce the equivalent energy from biofuels.

Lead researcher Joel Löfving frames the findings not as a reason to abandon green hydrogen, but as a call for more joined-up planning. “The conclusion is not that hydrogen production should be avoided, but that we must understand different perspectives and cooperate on many different levels — between government agencies, industry and local communities — to plan for the local effects of the transition.”

For developers and investors, the practical implication is clear: water resource assessment needs to sit alongside energy and grid planning from the earliest stages of any hydrogen project, not as an afterthought.

Source: Chalmers University of Technology / Nature Sustainability