In a significant step towards accelerating public-private action on hydrogen, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, and the European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Maroš Šefčovič, today met with a global delegation of Hydrogen Council executives.
BERLIN, June 11, 2024 – In a significant step towards accelerating public-private action on hydrogen, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, and the European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Maroš Šefčovič, today met with a global delegation of Hydrogen Council executives.
Leaders took stock of the sector’s continued progress despite macroeconomic headwinds with 90% year-on-year increase in committed capital in hydrogen across the value chain globally. At the same time, the leaders agreed that decisive, synchronized action by governments and industry is required to support the next stage of successful hydrogen deployment. In Europe, top priorities include full implementation of the enabling measures on the demand and midstream side and tackling the legislative complexity to advance more projects to the final investment decision (FID) stage.
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Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said: “We are committed to the Climate Goals of Paris and are convinced that Hydrogen and its derivatives will play a significant role in the decarbonisation of our industry, transport and energy sectors. Germany is moving forward with determination and concrete measures. I am pleased that the hydrogen market has moved significantly thanks to strong impulses from several governments around the globe and an emerging regulatory framework. To achieve our goals, we need to work together, international co-operation is key. This will not only help us to push competitiveness of hydrogen solutions that are sustainable and economical, but it will also increase global energy security.”
European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, Maroš Šefčovič said: “Europe is today the first region with a comprehensive regulatory framework aimed at incentivising the growth of the hydrogen ecosystem, providing legal certainty and predictability, a key ingredient to attracting the necessary investment. But we are not stopping there – we now need to unlock the full potential of hydrogen in Europe. Our Innovation Fund is already supporting 35 hydrogen projects, to the tune of €2.3 billion. And, following a successful pilot, this autumn will see the second auction for hydrogen production under the European Hydrogen Bank to boost our domestic production capacities. And soon, we will launch a match-making mechanism to inject even more agility. We must stay laser-focused on accelerating the scale up of the hydrogen sector across the entire value chain, whilst preserving the overall competitiveness of European industry. I applaud Germany for taking ambitious steps in this direction,”
Against the backdrop of European and global elections, industry representatives called for greater regulatory clarity and certainty on the demand-side and midstream incentives, a streamlined access to funding and stacking of funding instruments, a technology-inclusive approach recognizing hydrogen’s GHG emissions reduction value, a level playing field for locally produced and imported hydrogen and its derivatives, and support for industry and mobility applications to catalyze the hydrogen market.
Hydrogen Council Co-Chair Sanjiv Lamba, CEO of Linde, commented: “We are excited to see Germany and the EU Commission strengthening policy support for hydrogen at this critical time. Their commitment sends a strong signal to governments and industry around the world. Hydrogen has moved past vision-setting and announcements – it’s now part of the energy transition reality, as industry is successfully executing projects and delivering results towards net-zero.”
Yoshinori Kanehana, Hydrogen Council Co-Chair, Chairman of the Board, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., added: “Time for action is now. Strong, sustained government support is key to continuing and further accelerating hydrogen roll-out across key markets. We remain fully committed to our shared goals and look forward to working with our government and investor partners to accelerate investments in Germany, in Europe, and globally.”
About The Hydrogen Council
The Hydrogen Council is a global CEO-led initiative with a united vision and long-term ambition for hydrogen to accelerate the clean energy transition. It brings together a diverse group of 140 companies from 20 countries across Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Spanning the entire value chain, and including large multinationals, innovative start-ups as well as investors, the Council’s membership represents some $9 trillion in market capitalization, 6.8 million in FTEs and some $6.4 trillion in revenues.
The Council is committed to unlocking the sustainability potential of clean hydrogen, fostering business and technological innovation as drivers for sustainable growth, creating quality jobs and delivering social value. Using its global reach to promote collaboration between industry, governments, investors, and the civil society, the Council provides insights on and pathways for accelerating the deployment of hydrogen ecosystems around the world. It also supports the development of international safety and sustainability standards, paving the way for the deployment of reliable hydrogen solutions at scale.
To find out more visit www.hydrogencouncil.com and follow us on Twitter @HydrogenCouncil and LinkedIn.
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Joanna Damerell
Communications Manager, Hydrogen Council
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