(Berlin) - Around a year after the adoption of the National Hydrogen Strategy, the Federal Cabinet is, as expected, drawing a positive interim assessment of the implementation so far. “Green hydrogen is a central building block for the success of the energy transition in Germany, but also for the achievement of national and global energy and climate goals,” the Federal Ministries of Education, Economy, Transport and Economic Cooperation recognized in a joint statement.
The start of the “Important Projects of Common European Interest” (IPCEI) in the area of hydrogen is mentioned as important measures. For this purpose, 62 major projects were selected and the federal and state governments provided a total of eight billion euros in funding, including two billion euros for the decarbonization of the steel industry.
The production of green hydrogen was also exempt from the EEG levy, which reduced the costs of producing it. The amendment to the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) in the summer of 2021 created the first regulatory foundations for a pure hydrogen network infrastructure, according to the 30-page paper.
In the area of energy research, the “Hydrogen Technologies 2030” research offensive was launched. According to the report, several projects have already been started to support the path from research and development into practice, including the lead projects H2Giga, H2Mare and TransHyDE as well as in the context of the real-world laboratories of the energy transition. In addition, the H2 Compass project laid the foundation for the development of the hydrogen roadmap for the research area.
Imported from Arabia, South America and Africa
From an international perspective, the Federal Government reports that several funding measures and initiatives have been launched to promote the import of green hydrogen from non-European countries, for example in Saudi Arabia and Chile. “Germany remains an energy importing country. We must therefore quickly form supply chains for green hydrogen with our foreign partners,” explained Federal Minister of Education and Research, Anja Karliczek.
At the same time, it is important to build up electrolysis capacities in Germany and convert key industrial processes to green hydrogen. With initiatives to build global hydrogen supply chains such as the Hydrogen Atlas for Africa and feasibility studies in Australia, research is becoming a driving force for the export of hydrogen solutions, said the minister.
VDMA calls for increased expansion of renewable energies
“The balance after just over a year of NWS is positive,” comments Peter Müller-Baum, managing director of the VDMA Power-to-X for Applications working group. The Association of German Mechanical and Plant Engineering eV demands that, after the “stimulation of the supply side” that has now taken place, “we should finally take a closer look at demand and make regulatory adjustments, both in the industrial and transport sectors”. In addition, responsibilities across the different departments should be regulated more stringently. “Then some jurisdictional wrangling could be avoided,” says Müller-Baum.
The lobby association also calls for “the expansion of renewables to be pushed forward quickly and decisively”. A “real hydrogen economy from local production” cannot function without renewable energies. In addition, an infrastructure for hydrogen transport needs to be created. Müller-Baum: “The development of a hydrogen economy must be a central task of the future federal government.” Politicians must now resolutely tackle the restructuring of the economy and society, “combined with consistent use of Power-to-X technologies.”
deep link
https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/pressemitteilungen/de/2021/09/220921-Nationalen-Wasserstoffstrategie.html
https://www.pressebox.de/inaktiv/vdma-verband-deutscher-maschinen-und-anlagenbau-ev/Wasserstoff-wird-zur-echten-Saeule-der-Energiewende/boxid/1077417
Report from the Federal Government on the implementation of the National Hydrogen Strategy
https://www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Publikationen/Energie/bericht-der-bundesregierung-zur-umsetzung-der-nationalen-wasserstoffstrategie.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=16
Photos
Presentation of the National Hydrogen Strategy in June 2020 (from left: Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier and Federal Minister of Research Anja Karliczek). © BMBF/Hans-Joachim Rickel
