The president of the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that a head start may not be in Europe’s favor as the EU unveiled its €2 billion cooperation with industry to expedite research and development in green hydrogen.
“It’s great to start the marathon, and it’s great to be first in the ten kilometers, but nobody awards you a medal for it.” “If you finish the marathon, you receive a medal,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said during the partnership’s debut during EU hydrogen week.
Birol reminded the gathering that Europe was the first to invest in solar energy a decade ago. Money was spent on subsidies, giving Europe a head start, only for China and other competitors to catch up once the market for the technology was established. Solar panels are now produced in eight out of 10 countries outside of Europe.
Green hydrogen, in Birol’s opinion, is currently at a comparable phase. There is a lot of desire and movement, but there isn’t yet a market. Europe is taking the lead once more, and the cooperation is designed to ensure technical leadership.
One of its key aims is to scale up green hydrogen electrolysers from megawatt to gigawatt scale, which use renewable energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This will lower the cost of technology, which is currently too costly to compete in the market.
The new cooperation is an important aspect of the European Union’s hydrogen strategy, which was introduced in July 2020. It draws on an earlier industrial cooperation under the former Horizon 2020 program, which was co-funded half and half by industry and the Horizon Europe research project.
“This new alliance builds on years of cooperation,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. “It also takes the model to the next level.” It’s a significant step forward in getting breakthrough technology from the lab to the production, and eventually to European businesses and consumers.”
Policymakers authorized the hydrogen collaboration earlier this month as part of a €22 billion package of industrial alliances. Calls for 2022 are already open, with €300 million in funding expected to be released in the first quarter of the following year.
By 2030, Europe wants to lower the price of hydrogen down to €1.80 per kilogram. With natural gas prices on the increase, hydrogen might become a cost-effective option.
Scaling up the technology, developing worldwide collaboration, and cooperating with industry and researchers are all part of Von der Leyen’s strategy for getting there.
Regions across Europe are currently expanding their hydrogen marketplaces. The EU Innovation Fund awarded €1 billion in financing for seven green energy demonstrator projects, four of which would address hydrogen constraints, just two weeks ago. Member states are also putting money towards hydrogen with their EU recovery fund shares.
The goal is to create hydrogen clusters that bring together infrastructure connected to hydrogen. In the Netherlands, there is one that covers the full value chain, and now Mallorca and a border region in Slovenia, Italy, and Austria are attempting to imitate it.
Green hydrogen linkages are being established on a global scale. The Commission is looking at northern and sub-Saharan Africa as a possible source of solar power generation.
“Turning sustainable energy into hydrogen might be a way for storing that energy and selling it overseas while also powering Africa’s growing industry,” said von der Leyen at the partnership’s inaugural ceremony. “With this in mind, I advocated investing in Africa’s hydrogen industry, therefore establishing a new hydrogen market between the Mediterranean’s two coastlines.”
However, while Africa is a natural partner for Europe, Birol warns that Sub-Saharan Africa has yet to create enough renewable energy for its own use, let alone export. Despite the region’s huge potential, Belgium already generates twice as much solar electricity than Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, there are 600 million individuals who do not have access to energy in the country. “That electricity must first be used to provide energy to the African people,” he stated.
Maintaining global leadership is critical right now. “Everyone smells that it will be one of the backbones of the new energy economy we are constructing, and nobody wants to be behind,” Birol said. Nearly 30 nations have created their own policies to acquire a greater slice of the hydrogen pie.
With the conclusion of the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, the race is expected to pick up speed as investors release private cash. The conference’s key message, according to Birol, is a signal to investors to get money flowing into sustainable energy.
