HY NEWS GLOBAL
Beyond2050
A hydrogen-specialist political strategy and communications agency. PRCA Small Consultancy of the Year 2024.
In the?United States,?President Donald Trump has signed a series of executive orders aimed at halting and reversing much of President Biden’s climate agenda and support for America’s green energy sector. President Trump issued 78 executive orders to repeal those made by his predecessor, including efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and protect federal lands from oil drilling. He has also issued executive orders targeting green energy, such as temporarily withdrawing all areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from offshore wind leasing.??
President Trump’s energy agenda has been dominated by the phrase “drill, baby drill,” which he has used publicly. In service of this, he has declared a national energy emergency to give his administration more powers to expedite approvals of oil, gas, and power projects. The order also lifts the moratorium on new licenses to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) and directs the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) to resume processing applications for new LNG export permits, reversing the pause implemented by former President Biden in early 2024.?
Key to Trump’s success is Lee Zeldin, the new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, and the new Energy Secretary, Chris Wright. Trump has quickly appointed new officials with strong connections to the oil, gas and chemical industries. In addition to appointing those loyal to him to minimise pushback within the federal agencies, President Trump has fired the independent federal watchdogs for the DoE and EPA.?
Industry is particularly concerned about the President’s attempts to halt all federal grant funding, putting projects such as the seven US hydrogen hubs at risk. Although the green hydrogen tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act are safe for now due to their funding being separate from that of the DoE, Trump has made it clear that he wants to repeal much of this plan. Following legal challenges, a US district judge has temporarily put a stop to the freeze on federal grant funding until 3 February.?
Internationally, President Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement, as he did during his last presidency. The US had previously committed to cut climate pollution by up to 66 per cent within a decade.??
In?Canada, Trudeau’s premiership draws to a close as he announces his resignation as leader of the ruling Liberal Party. Eight candidates have announced their campaign to succeed him, with the frontrunners emerging as Mark Carney, former Governor of both the Bank of England and Bank of Canada, and Chrystia Freeland, former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.??
On hydrogen, Mark Carney, writing as UN Special Envoy for Climate Action at COP28, said getting to net zero “requires building new low-carbon manufacturing facilities, developing sustainable fuels and green-hydrogen supply, and deploying small modular nuclear reactors and carbon-capture and storage capacity." Chrystia Freeland oversaw the tabling of Budget23 "A Made-in-Canada Plan" in the Canadian House of Commons which included the Clean Hydrogen Investment Tax Credit and outlined the role of the Canada Growth Fund in launching Canada's green hydrogen sector.?
The winner will represent the Liberal Party in an upcoming general election expected later this year, with opposition parties planning to force a vote of no confidence in the government as soon as Parliament returns on 24 March.
Germany’s General Election, set for 23 February, is fast approaching. Polls suggest the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) will emerge as the largest party, while the incumbent Social Democrats (SPD) face significant losses. This positions corporate lawyer Friedrich Merz as the likely next Chancellor, who has plans for Germany to lead the development of a joint European strategy in response to Donald Trump’s presidency. On climate policy, he has vowed to prioritise economic growth, pledging to halt the decommissioning of coal and nuclear until alternatives are fully operational, stating: “If we continue to [decommission], we will massively jeopardise Germany as an industrial location, and we are not prepared to do that.”??
Gas transmission companies involved in Germany’s planned hydrogen network, as previously reported by?HY NEWS GLOBAL, remain confident that the first 525 kilometres of pipelines will be completed and operational before the end of this year.?
In December, the?European Commission?approved a €3 billion?German-Dutch?initiative to support renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs), including renewable hydrogen. The program will fund 1.875 GW of electrolysis capacity across the world.?
The Clean Hydrogen Partnership, which functions under Horizon Europe, the?European Commission’s?primary research and innovation funding programme, has launched its 2025 Call for Proposals. The initiative offers €184.5 million to projects which will advance clean hydrogen technologies across the value chain.?
In?France, political instability persists as the new Prime Minister Francois Bayrou recently survived a no-confidence vote and must still secure domestic agreement on his austerity budget (it has already been granted approval from the European Commission and EU ministers). Despite a recent endorsement of geo-thermal energy as part of France’s transition to renewables, the 2025 Budget’s primary focus is on reducing the country’s budget deficit and does not detail specific reforms or financial commitments toward renewable energy initiatives.??
Meanwhile, following the hydrogen vehicle showcase at the 2024 Olympics, a new fleet of hydrogen-powered taxis is advancing sustainable mobility in Paris.??As part of the?EU-funded ‘Hydrogen Fuel for Paris’ project, up to eight hydrogen refuelling stations are being set up across the Paris metropolitan area to support the increasing adoption of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles.
At the end of December, the?Chinese?Government issued an 'Implementation Plan' to accelerate the adoption of clean and low-carbon hydrogen in the industrial sector. Building on the framework established in the 2022 'Medium and Long-Term Plan for the Development of Hydrogen Energy Industry,' this plan provides top-level policy guidance to promote hydrogen use in industry and ensure sufficient demand. China’s ambition is to achieve the production of 100,000–200,000 tons of low-carbon hydrogen annually by 2025.?
Under?India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission, state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India?has announced the bidders for its second green hydrogen auction as part of the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition program. Out of the 14 companies which bid a combined total of 622,500 tonnes, 10 have been successful. The scheme offers gradually decreasing subsidies over a period of three years to scale-up production.?
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India?also launched the development of its first green hydrogen hub in January. Led by state-owned NTPC Green Energy, the project is set to develop 20 GW of renewable energy projects and produce 1,500 tons per day of green hydrogen in the state of Andhra Pradesh.?
The Prime Ministers of?Japan?and?Malaysia?met in January and agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation on carbon capture and green hydrogen projects. This includes collaboration on hydrogen technology between Japanese companies and Malaysian state-owned oil companies Petros and Petronas.?
Morocco’s?Energy Transition and Sustainable Development minister, Leila Benali, told a Parliamentary Committee this week that the government will not subsidise domestic green hydrogen projects unless they can prove they are economically viable, and are able to sell renewable molecules at a competitive price on global markets. Morocco currently has 12 such projects in line to receive land through the country’s “Hydrogen Offer”, launched in 2024, which promised to allocate up to a million hectares of land for green hydrogen projects. Furthermore, the Minister said that the country will stop green hydrogen production by 2030 if no competitive product is produced, but reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to “provide green, clean and cost-effective energy.”?
A joint Declaration of Intent has been signed by representatives of?Tunisia, Germany, Algeria, Italy and Austria?to strengthen European-North African collaboration on the Southern Hydrogen Corridor (SoutH2) project, which aims to be operational by 2030. The initiative will create a direct pipeline connection between clean hydrogen projects in North Africa and central European demand centres, supplying competitive renewable hydrogen to Europe. The project uses 65% repurposed infrastructure to supply off-takers along the corridor’s 3,300km length.?A representative from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action described the project as one of the “largest and most significant renewable energy projects of our time”, enabling the EU to benefit from Africa’s renewable energy potential.??
Meanwhile, a new report published by the Energy Industries Council (EIC), the Africa OPEX Report, finds that Africa is set to become a key player in the international green hydrogen market, with 41 projects across nine countries expected to enter development over the next five years. The report found that North African countries, including?Egypt,?Algeria?and Morocco, are leading the way in development of such projects, aided by year-round sunshine, comparatively cheap renewable-energy potential and strategic locations across the Mediterranean from Europe. African hydrogen ambitions are further supported by the African Green Hydrogen Alliance, which aims to intensify collaboration and development of green hydrogen projects through a focus on public and regulatory policy, financing and certification of projects.??
The EIC does however warn against excessive optimism by highlighting the significant challenges faced by the hydrogen sector in Africa. These barriers include securing off-taker agreements, major infrastructure investment and establishing regulatory frameworks.?
The?2025?Australian?federal election?will be held on or before 17 May 2025 where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be seeking re-election. The Prime Minister’s Labor Party are trailing behind the Liberal Party, led by Peter Dutton who sits on the right of his party. There are fears among Australian industry that should the Liberal-National Coalition win this year’s election, federal subsidies for hydrogen could be scrapped in favour of investment in Australian nuclear power.?
In the meantime, a new report from?Geoscience Australia,?in collaboration with the?Geological Survey of New South Wales, has found large volumes of natural hydrogen throughout New South Wales. Minister for Resources, Madeleine King said: “The economics of our geology is undeniable and presents us with an enormous opportunity. The Albanese Government is committed to unlocking our minerals potential and discovering opportunities for alternative energy and storage.”
The?Brazilian?federal government is putting together a strategy to attract green investments that were otherwise planned to take place in the United States following President Donald Trump’s election. Discussions are taking place internally within the Brazilian Ministry of Finance, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development and the Ministry of Mines and Energy to support greater investment in Brazilian hydrogen.?
The law that enables $3.4 billion in tax credits for clean hydrogen producers in Brazil has finally received approval from the Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Readers of?HY NEWS GLOBAL?may recall this had been passed by legislators in late 2024 but was initially vetoed by the President. The law controversially defines low-carbon hydrogen as having emissions of up to 7kg of CO2-equivalent per kilo of hydrogen,?which is the highest upper threshold outside China. This ensures that hydrogen production from ethanol will still be eligible for subsidies.?
The Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy has also announced that 12 low-carbon hydrogen hub projects will be competing for $1bn of funding. The winning projects are expected to receive funding from the international Climate Investments Funds – Industry Decarbonization CIF-ID. The CIF programme is aimed at supporting heavy-emitting industries in developing countries to decarbonise.?
Chile’s?Defence ministry?granted a local ammonia project company the right to build and use maritime logistics infrastructure in southern Magallanes region. The project plans to install 1.16 GW of wind power to support 800 MW of electrolyser capacity to produce green ammonia for export.?
Andreas Jung, one of the Deputy Chairs of the Christian Democratic Union in Germany, has pledged continued support for clean hydrogen if they win the federal election next month by saying:
“The hydrogen ramp-up must be accelerated.”
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With best wishes,
Andrew Crossan
Consultant, Beyond2050