Commercial supply chain and hydrogen strategy roadmap for Europe - Germany, UK & Norway

GERMANY

The German government predicts a hydrogen demand of about 90 to 110 TWh by 2030 and in order to accommodate this demand, electrolysers with a total capacity of up to 5 GW are to be built in Germany by 2020.

Germany has committed itself together with the other European member states to achieve the green house gas (GHG) neutrality by 2050. Apart from phasing out coal fired power for which Germany has already taken the relevant actions, this means preventing emissions which are particularly hard to reduce such as process related  GHG  emissions from the industrial sector. For the energy transition to be successful, security of supply, affordability and environmental compatibility need to be combined with innovative and smart climate action. This means that the fossil fuels we are currently using need to be replaced by alternative options.

Brief overview of project archetypes in key European countries

Europe is a leading global market for electrolyser capacity deployment with 40% of global installed capacity. It is significant to note that close to 70 MW of electrolysis became operational in 2020, making the total installed capacity to almost 300 MW. Europe’s alone contribution hovers around 120 MW.

In November 2021, the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance announced a pipeline of projects that European industry is undertaking to roll out the European hydrogen economy on a large scale. Featuring over 750 projects , the pipeline is a testimony to the size and dynamism of the European hydrogen industry. The project archetypes range from clean hydrogen production to its use in industry, mobility, energy and buildings.