€3.7bn for 2024 hydrogen economy ramp-up in Germany’s €57.6bn KTF policy

LONDON (ICIS)–The ramp-up of the hydrogen economy will receive €3.7billion in 2024 following the German government adopting the economic plan of the Climate & Transformation Fund (KTF), it was announced on 9 August.

The KTF has a total budget of €57.6bn for next year and plans for investments to total €221.8bn between 2024 and 2027.

Out of the total budget, the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy will receive €3.7bn, which will include a hydrogen strategy for foreign trade (including H2Global) and the decarbonisation of industry.

Germany currently has annual hydrogen consumption of around 55TWh with this expected to increase to between 95TWh and 130TWh by 2030 according to the country’s National Hydrogen Strategy that was updated in the second half of July.

Germany also doubled its domestic renewable hydrogen expectations from 5GW to 10GW of electrolyser capacity by the end of the decade with the bulk of domestic demand set to be met by either pipeline imports or via marine shipping.

Germany said in its strategy update that a separate strategy for imports would be published before the end of the year.

The H2Global initiative is an international import scheme that secures 10-year contracts for the purchase of hydrogen internationally for resale in the domestic market, and will be a key factor in the import strategy.