Source: Energy & Management Powernews, November 04 2022
According to the VDE, the traditionally highly regulated energy markets stand in the way of the hydrogen ramp-up. In a white paper, the association makes recommendations for more investment.
240 billion U.S. dollars (about 243 billion euros) is what will flow into the hydrogen sector worldwide by 2030. Only 10 percent of the planned hydrogen large-scale projects - 680 in number - are however currently concrete in the implementation. This was announced by the German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE). He refers to a compilation of the Munich consulting firm McKinsey & Company in cooperation with the Hydrogen Council, a business alliance based in Brussels.
The electrical engineering association justifies this with the "great uncertainties" in the emerging market. "It is quite crucial to adapt the current regulatory framework, which has evolved from established energy technologies, to the new systems and products and to reduce the hurdles for their market introduction," explains Burkhard Holder, managing director of VDE Renewables GmbH, a subsidiary of the VDE Group. He added that the traditionally highly regulated energy markets were exacerbating uncertainty in industry and the financial world because an economic assessment of investment projects was only possible to a limited extent.
Support programs of particular importance
According to the VDE white paper now presented, government support programs continue to make sense and must be expanded and adapted where necessary. "They are an important and essential support for the market ramp-up and the build-up phase." Unlike other innovations, high financial injections over long periods of time are required for the hydrogen ramp-up, he said, because hydrogen technology does not yet serve an already existing ecosystem.
The association calls for the rapid introduction of the necessary regulatory frameworks as well as uniform approval processes throughout Europe. Both are important prerequisites for the financeability and insurability of the new products and business models. In addition, the association believes that the German hydrogen industry urgently needs concerted initiatives to train young people in the field of hydrogen - both in vocational training and at universities. "Overall, we need an industrial policy that is open to technology and that supports, rather than prevents, emerging changes with interesting commercialization potential," the association writes.
The 28-page white paper can be downloaded from the VDE website after entering personal data.
Author: Davina Spohn
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