(Bloomberg) -- The European Union will miss its 2030 target for green hydrogen production as building facilities for the clean fuel faces technical, regulatory and financial challenges, the head of French utility Engie SA said.

“I don’t believe” the EU can install 40 gigawatts of electrolyzers powered by low-carbon electricity by the end of the decade, Chief Executive Officer Catherine MacGregor told journalists at the company’s headquarters near Paris on Friday. “We have an issue with the regulation, with the economics, and an issue in terms of reliability when it comes to building electrolyzers at scale.”

MacGregor joins the ranks of skeptics over whether green hydrogen — made with water and renewable power — can quickly play a large role in Europe’s plan to decarbonize so-called hard-to-abate industries such as steelmaking and fertilizers production. Danish wind-power giant Orsted A/S recently cited high coasts for shelving projects to produce the clean fuel to cut emissions at refineries in the UK and Germany.

Engie earlier this year pushed back its target to have 4 gigawatts of electrolyzers worldwide by five years to 2035, and the EU’s goal will probably be delayed by “at least” the same time frame, MacGregor said. The region’s regulations to label hydrogen as “green” are “very demanding,” and investments to replace natural gas with hydrogen in processes like steelmaking are “very expensive.”

“All these challenges can be overcome, but it takes a bit more time,” she said.   

The utility is developing green hydrogen projects to produce synthetic aviation fuel and biofuels in France, though obtaining subsidies in Europe typically takes longer than in the US, where Engie is also considering building two 100-megawatt electrolyzers, according to MacGregor. It’s also working on green hydrogen projects in Chile, and building a 10-megawatt electrolyzer in Australia.  

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