European manufacturers of hydrogen (H₂) equipment have urged the European Union (EU) to step in to help the industry compete with cheaper Chinese producers.

The companies, among them Thyssenkrupp Nucera, Siemens Energy and Nel Hydrogen, want Brussels to do more to ensure Europe-made equipment powers the EU's plan by 2030 to produce 10 metric MMt of renewable H₂ using electrolyzers, machines that use electricity to split water to produce the green fuel.

China is rapidly expanding its production of H₂ equipment and is now home to 40% of the world's electrolyzer manufacturing capacity, up from 10% last year, sources said, adding that state subsidies were giving Chinese firms an edge.

"This skewed playing-field creates unfair competition and puts European electrolyzer manufacturers at a significant disadvantage," said a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

"Once a technology or its supply chain is lost, it is impossible to bring it back," said the letter, which was dated on Monday.

The European firms asked Brussels to introduce "resilience criteria" that would favor local firms in upcoming auctions from the bloc's Hydrogen Bank funding scheme, and ensure certain parts of the production process are located in Europe.

The EU hydrogen bank awarded €720 MM to seven EU projects in April. Industry sources have said the low-priced bids from some successful projects indicated that they would be using cheaper Chinese equipment.

The EU is toughening its stance against China on green technologies to attempt to ensure European industries can compete globally and avoid deepening Europe's reliance on Beijing for key building blocks of the clean energy transition.

Brussels last month announced tariffs on imported Chinese electric cars, and is investigating Chinese subsidies for wind and solar suppliers.