British consultancy Cornwall Insight published an index ranking the countries with the greatest market potential for both blue hydrogen from natural gas and green hydrogen from renewable electricity.
The firm analyzed government funding for hydrogen in 15 countries that have committed to becoming hydrogen market leaders. Its rankings put Germany at the top, followed by South Korea, Spain, Japan and the United Kingdom.
The ranking is not strictly based on countries’ existing and planned hydrogen production capacity. While Germany has 124 hydrogen production sites in various stages of completion, Spain has 73, South Korea has 17, Japan has 19 and the UK has 79, according to S&P Global Platts data.
With significantly more investment than countries like the U.K. and a new commitment to push hydrogen targets to triple the speed of emissions cuts, Germany is currently the world leader in hydrogen policy, wrote Naomi Potter, senior research analyst at Cornwall Insight.
Not only does Germany have a strong government subsidy framework, pledging €7 billion to expand domestic green hydrogen pilot projects, but it is also investing €2 billion in hydrogen exports abroad through international partnerships.
Germany is also a multi-pipeline hydrogen import market to feed expected industrial demand as the country strengthens its decarbonization goals.
South Korea plans to grow its hydrogen market using private sector funds of at least $38 billion. In February, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that companies, including five domestic conglomerates (Hanwha, Hyosung, Hyundai, SK Group and POSCO), had committed to spend this amount by 2030.
The country passed the Hydrogen Economy Law in February. The law deals mainly with the expansion of hydrogen use in vehicle refueling stations and fuel cells and provides for related government subsidies.
The law supports a hydrogen economy implementation roadmap that will see the country install 310 stations serving fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) by the end of 2022, and 1,200 stations serving 2.9 million fuel cell electric vehicles by 2040, as well as creating “hydrogen cities.”
Spain was another country that ranked high in the index, with a score of 6.8/10. The country aims to install 4 GW of electrolyzer plants by 2030, with renewable hydrogen contributing 25% of national hydrogen needs by the same year.
Like Germany, Spain will focus on developing green hydrogen, using the country’s strong solar PV resources. Unlike Germany, the country’s role in the global supply chain will focus more specifically on export and national self-sufficiency.
