11GW of green hydrogen production capacity pledged by 2030 via H2Zero initiative

LONDON (ICIS)–At least 11GW of green hydrogen production capacity has been pledged by 2030 through the H2Zero initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI).

The pledges, made by 28 companies that make up H2Zero, could account for more than 25% of the European Commission’s 2030 target of 40GW of electrolyser capacity, demonstrating the willingness of the private sector to accelerate hydrogen growth.

The initiative also included commitments to produce more than 18m tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen, with at least €7.9bn of investments by 2030.

Pledges across three categories – demand, supply and financial or technical support – were made by the 28 companies representing different sectors from mining to energy, vehicle and equipment manufacturers, and financial services.

GREEN PRODUCTION CAPACITY

The 11GW of green hydrogen production capacity pledged by 2030 stems from five companies.

The largest commitment came from French utility Engie, which aims to develop 4GW of production capacity.

Spanish utility Iberdrola plans to have 3GW of electrolyser capacity by the end of the decade, with this capacity split into projects across eight different countries.

“Iberdrola is developing new renewable projects to support green hydrogen projects,” Iberdrola told ICIS.

Italian multinational Enel has pledged 2GW of electrolysers, while Portuguese utility EDP has also committed to invest more than 1.5GW during the same timeframe.

ERM also has 0.5GW of planned production capacity by 2030 via projects such as the ERM Dolphyn project which aims to utilise floating offshore wind. ERM aims to expand to 4GW by 2035.

The pledges made amount to more than a quarter of the commission’s 40GW target by the end of the decade.

Alongside these pledges, US multinational Cummins has committed to scale up its electrolyser production capacity to 2GW by 2030.

UK-based ITM Power also pledges to increase its electrolyser capacity to 5GW per year by the fourth quarter of 2024. The company expects this to reduce the full system price of electrolysis by 50%.

SUPPLY CAPACITY PLEDGES

Australian firm Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) – a new division of Australian mining company Fortescue Metals Group – targets the production of 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen per annum by 2030.

To put this figure into context, the EU aims for 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen production the end of this decade.

Iberdrola’s supply target also stands out, with the Spanish utility confirming to ICIS that a total of 134ktpa of green hydrogen production per year is aimed by 2030.

An additional 2.52mtpa of hydrogen supply capacity is included within the H2Zero initiative.

Notable examples include energy major BP’s commitment of at least 500ktpa new gross low and ultra-low carbon hydrogen in core markets by 2030.

Belfast-headquartered GenComm meanwhile has pledged to supply 365ktpa of green hydrogen by 2030 to Hydrogen Ireland.

HYDROGEN INVESTMENTS

Up to €7.9bn of investment has been committed by members of the H2Zero initiative to support the development of hydrogen or hydrogen production technologies.

One of the largest pledges comes from Iberdrola, which seeks to invest €3.1bn up to 2030 to achieve its renewable hydrogen goals.

Spanish company Acciona Energia has established a joint venture with Plug Power to achieve a 20% market share in the Iberian renewable hydrogen business by 2030, through an initially planned investment of more than €2bn.

ITM Power has pledged to invest £400m (€468m) to increase its electrolyser production capacity to 5GW per year by the end of 2024.

An additional support pledge has come from British chemicals company Johnson Matthey, which will invest around £1bn (€1.17bn) in the research, development and deployment of clean hydrogen technologies by the end of this decade.

Siemens Energy has also pledged to contribute funds from its €1bn research and development budget for technologies that will support tackling climate change, aiming to have a hydrogen ready CCGTs on the market by 2030.

Additional reporting by Jake Stones