Opportunities for German companies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic

19.02.2025

Source: E & M powernews

In 2025, the hydrogen sector will be promoted in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The Czech Ministry of the Environment is providing around 120 million euros for the construction of electrolysers.

The money is mainly going to the former coal regions of Karlovy Vary, Usti nad Labem and Moravian Silesia.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade in Prague updated its hydrogen strategy in the summer of 2024. Around 20,000 tons of green hydrogen are to be produced annually by 2030. According to the government's plans, the fuel will primarily be used in transport, as a chemical feedstock for the climate-neutral production of fuels and plastics and for storing surplus energy from renewable sources or nuclear power.

According to German Trade and Invest, this opens up a wide range of opportunities for German companies. Thuringia-based Kyros Hydrogen Solutions is already active in the Czech Republic. It supplied an electrolysis system based on a proton exchange membrane for the only Czech electrolyzer based on renewable energy to date in Napajedla near Zlin. The Bavarian mechanical engineering company Riedel Kooling in turn produced the process cooling system for the plant.

The German Chamber of Commerce Abroad in the Slovakian capital Bratislava is also busily courting investors in hydrogen. It recently published a "skills atlas", which also highlights opportunities for the use of hydrogen in transport.
At the beginning of this decade, the Slovakian government adopted a hydrogen strategy and also launched a number of flagship projects. However, these projects were put on hold for years due to ongoing political wrangling. It is only since the middle of last year that a public debate has started again.

Hydrogen production exceeds consumption

According to calculations by the Institute for Economic Analysis in Bratislava, Slovakia has so far been self-sufficient in hydrogen production. From 2019 to 2023, it exceeded consumption by an average of 0.3 percent. 151,100 tons of hydrogen were produced in 2023, compared to 163,800 tons in 2022. At the moment, hydrogen is mainly used by chemical and petrochemical companies, but experts see the greatest opportunities in the transport and energy sectors.

By 2030, the annual consumption of hydrogen could rise to 186,000 tons. Under the current conditions, Slovakia would no longer be able to meet this demand on its own. This is why the call for pilot projects for the production of green hydrogen is getting louder and louder. Contradictory requirements for its promotion are also causing disgruntlement.

In connection with the production of green hydrogen, the current disputes over gas supplies with Ukraine are also causing fierce criticism of the Slovakian government. This is because the European Green Hydrogen Initiative defines Ukraine as a strategic partner in the development of renewable hydrogen.

Electrolysers with an installed capacity of 10,000 MW for the production of green hydrogen are to be built there by 2030. Only 1,800 MW would be used for the domestic market. According to Oleksandr Riepkin, Chairman of the Ukrainian Hydrogen Council, the hydrogen industry is continuing to develop despite the Russian invasion and the first projects have already been launched. The aim is to produce 0.6 million tons of hydrogen by 2035 and 2.5 million tons by 2050.

According to industry experts, Slovakia needs precisely this hydrogen in order to make its fertilizer and steel production in particular more environmentally friendly. Ukraine also has ideal geographical conditions for generating solar and wind energy, which can be used to produce green hydrogen. However, due to the current disputes over gas, there is a risk that the government in Bratislava will permanently alienate a potential partner for the implementation of hydrogen plans in the area of greening the oil, chemical or gas industry.

Author: Karin Rogalska