Germany’s Ireland deal secures further hydrogen import potential

LONDON (ICIS)–The German and Irish governments at the beginning of this month signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on cooperation in the field of renewable hydrogen, securing yet another potential import route for Germany.

Germany is seeking to import the vast majority of its renewable hydrogen, with the country having limited space for additional renewable generation capacity.

As a result, the German Hydrogen Strategy said that out of the 90-110TWh/year renewable hydrogen economy due to be up and running by 2030, approximately 14TWh/year would be produced domestically.

Recently, Germany established further bonds with both Norway and Denmark for renewable hydrogen flows via pipeline into the country as well as inking several memorandums of understanding with other countries for the import of renewable hydrogen in the form of ammonia.

Data from ICIS showed that Germany is set for hydrogen demand climb to 142TWh by 2040 and to 244TWh by 2050, accounting for about 30% of total European hydrogen demand.

Ireland is seeking to become an exporter of renewable hydrogen produced from offshore wind turbines.

The Irish government has set a target of 5GW of offshore energy by 2030 with an additional 2GW to be specifically designated for hydrogen production via electrolysis.