Global economies urgently ‘need clean hydrogen’ – Hydrogen Council

LONDON (ICIS)–Due to a combination of several different factors, global economies now require investment and development of hydrogen more than at any other time, the Hydrogen Council’s Hydrogen Insights 2022 publication, released late 20 September, said.

“The urgency to invest in mature hydrogen projects today is greater than ever. The rebound of carbon emissions to above pre-COVID levels, the invasion of Ukraine, and the growing concerns around energy security resulting from the war in Europe make one thing clear: our economies need clean [renewable] hydrogen, and action is needed to convert proposals into actual deployment,” the report said.

The report also stated that although hydrogen project investment was continuing to grow at a faster rate than in previous years, deployment was behind, and more was required in order to meet the net zero emissions target by 2050.

HYDROGEN PROJECTS

The report said that “the pipeline of hydrogen projects is continuing to grow, but actual deployment is lagging.”

In 2022, some 680 large-scale project proposals worth $240bn that have been put forward, 50% up from November last year, however, only $22bn have reached financial investment decision stage.

30% of thee investments are in Europe, with China slightly ahead on actual deployment of electrolyzers (200MW) with Japan and South Korea accounting for more than half the 11GW global fuel cell production capacity.

The report said that an additional $700bn investment in hydrogen would be required by 2030, with today’s figure at just 3% if that number.

“Both governments and industry needs to act to implement immediate actions for 2022 to 2023,” the report said.

Nonetheless, announced renewable hydrogen production capacity is set to nudge 14.4m tonnes/year by 2030, with low-carbon hydrogen at 11.8m tonnes/year.

PRIORITY ACTIONS

For policy, the report cited three key actions required by the end of 2023.

• Enable demand visibility and regulatory certainty by adopting legally binding measures
  * Fast-track access to public funding for hydrogen projects
  * Ensure international coordination and support credible common standards and robust tradeable certification systems

For industry, the report cited three key actions required by the end of 2023.

• Advance project proposals to FiD by committing to funding and resource deployment
  * Scale up hydrogen supply chain capability and capacity
  * Build infrastructure for cross-border trade