Hydrogen Transition Summit: Partnerships, policy and investment needed to drive the hydrogen economy

The Hydrogen Transition Summit took place last week on the 23 & 25 Feb, convening over 2,000 stakeholders from government, business, and the investment community to discuss how hydrogen can form part of the green Recovery and how to accelerate the hydrogen economy.

3 key goals to make hydrogen a reality came out of the discussion:

• Cross-sector partnerships will become essential if we are to realise the full potential of the hydrogen economy. They must start now and be supported by governments, business and investors.
• Increased investment is required from all stakeholders. The EIB called for governments to support initial projects and make them ‘bankable’ in order to mobilise the private capital investment to scale them.
• Clearer policy frameworks are needed globally to ensure that the technologies that are ready today can be scaled up and adopted worldwide.

It was clear from the discussions that hydrogen will indeed play a key role in the future energy mix, especially for some of the hardest to abate emissions. But there were some stark warnings, it’s not a silver bullet and “we shouldn't be planning to try and use it for everything,” warned Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge.

You can watch the highlights video from both days below, and view a summary of what our speakers underlined as the key action points needed to make the Hydrogen Economy a reality.

Day 1

Day 2

Want to watch all the sessions in full? Watch on demand.

Key Outcomes:

Partnership
Many of our speakers raised the important point that to ensure the hydrogen hype becomes a reality we must invest in key partnerships, noting that this collaboration must cross sector and cross border in order to have substantial impact.

Carbon Tax
Andreas Wagner at the Energy Transitions Commissions spoke about the importance of carbon tax as a powerful tool to level the playing field but said it was important to remember that we must not rely on it as a means to accelerate low carbon solutions.

Policy Frameworks
Our panellists made it clear that there is a need for policy framework beyond the R&D phase to ensure existing technology is scalable. Dr Alan Finkel, advisor to the Australian Government, echoed that although technology is key, it won't be successful without clear and precise policy.

Transition
Bart Biebuyk at the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) said that it is critical to have a transition phase between blue to green hydrogen to ensure we reach 2030 targets, arguing there is no other alternative. Although he reiterated that by 2050, the transition to green hydrogen must be complete.

Innovation
Dr. Fatih Birol from the International Energy Agency kicked off the Summit by highlighting that hydrogen needs to be a critical part of every clean energy strategy. Franesco La Camera at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) echoed this, pointing out that hydrogen has the potential to be a game changer but continued innovation is vital to improve performance.

Financial Incentives
It is clear that financial incentives must be put in place to ensure existing technologies can be scaled up. Stephan Sicars at UNIDO noted that without these key incentives, it will be very difficult for large players to create change the change.

International Collaboration

Our panellists discussed the importance of international collaboration to drive the hydrogen economy. Christian Pho Duc at Smartenergy spoke on how collaboration must be across the whole value chain in order to drive a successful green economy.

Policy
Many panellists highlighted the critical nature of clear and precise policies that need to be put in place to make the hydrogen transition possible. Will Lochhead from the Department of BEIS confirmed that the UK government view low carbon hydrogen as vital solution to meet net zero by 2050 and are working to create the right policies, business models and commercial frameworks to support this.

Want to watch all the sessions in full? Watch on demand.

Our Roadmap to COP26 series continues in May with our Transition Summits, where we will be discussing how we can decarbonise Industry, Transport and the Energy sectors. If you want to get involved as a partner please contact us. Partnership Opportunities.