The problem for Equinor’s German project was that it could not find enough customers to buy the hydrogen it proposed to produce.
Mr Eidsvold said Equinor also couldn’t continue maturing the projects without firm long-term commitments from European buyers to import hydrogen.
He said: “We are not able to make this kind of investment when we don’t have long-term agreements and the markets in place.”
Plans to develop hydrogen-ready gas power plants in Germany with RWE will go ahead but hydrogen for those plans will be procured on the Continent, not exported from Norway.
Equinor will continue other early phase hydrogen projects, such as in the UK and the Netherlands. However, the decision will raise questions over their future too.
Earlier this year Equinor, along with Centrica and SS, launched plans for a collaboration of multiple low carbon hydrogen projects on the north bank of the Humber, part of a Humber Hydrogen Hub.
The plans, which include the transformation of the Easington gas terminal and a hydrogen production facility, were launched in the Houses of Parliament to an audience of MPs, civil servants, industry bodies and regional stakeholders.
Additionally, Equinor has announced plans for a dedicated hydrogen pipeline that would link Easington to Equinor’s proposed H2H Saltend hydrogen production facility at Saltend Chemicals Park, as well as to a proposed hydrogen storage facility at Aldbrough on the East Yorkshire Coast.
However, there are growing concerns that the UK has been extremely slow at developing a hydrogen economy, meaning there are few customers for such projects.
