Several companies from Germany and Denmark have come together to sign a green hydrogen offtake declaration, facilitated by Dansk Industri (DI), Green Power Denmark, and the German-Danish Chamber of Commerce.
During the Green Hydrogen Summit hosted by Danish Industry, 32 key players in the hydrogen industry endorsed the joint statement on industry cooperation. This includes Danish producers and suppliers of green hydrogen and the German industrial offtake market.
Notable participants at the summit were Airbus, Andel, Aurubis, BASF, BeBa Energie, Chamber of Commerce Flensburg, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, COWI, Danfoss, European Energy, Everfuel, GP Joule, Green Hydrogen Systems, H2Energy Europe, MAN Energy Solutions, Niras, Plug Power, Rambøll, RWE, SaltPower, Siemens Energy, Stadtwerke Flensburg, STRING Megaregion, thyssenkrupp, Topsoe, TotalEnergies, Uniper, Vattenfall, and Ørsted. The event focused on discussing necessary steps to develop a green hydrogen market and infrastructure connecting Germany and Denmark, marking the inaugural German-Danish Green Hydrogen Summit.
The German-Danish Offtake Declaration on Green Hydrogen
Joint Statement on Industry Cooperation between Danish Producers and Suppliers of Green Hydrogen, and the German Industrial Offtake Market
World-Leading Green Hydrogen Market Based on German Offtake and Danish Production
We, the Danish and German signatories, are committed to developing a world-leading green hydrogen market. We believe green hydrogen and its derivatives can significantly contribute to a net-zero emission economy. Denmark and Germany collectively possess the capabilities to provide electrolysis, develop production, transportation, and usage of large-scale green hydrogen before 2030. We recognize the urgent need for developing hydrogen offtake and infrastructure to facilitate green hydrogen development from sources like offshore wind in the North Sea and land-based wind and solar.
The Danish and German industries are prepared to meet both EU and national green hydrogen targets. The availability of competitive, scalable, and timely green hydrogen is crucial for fueling the transition. Future access to sufficient and affordable green hydrogen is key to the green transition, maintaining competitiveness, securing green industry jobs, and ensuring security of supply in Europe.
The waters surrounding Denmark and Germany have massive potential for offshore wind. According to the Esbjerg and Ostend Declarations, this turns our countries into a green European power plant, supplying green hydrogen to German and European industries. We believe our combined capabilities in developing and integrating green energy can be replicated on a large scale with renewable energy- and electrolysis technology.
European 2030 Visions for Green Hydrogen Need Strong Leadership Now
The European target on renewable hydrogen production in REPowerEU is 10 million tons (330 TWh hydrogen) in 2030. Germany’s existing industrial hydrogen demand, the largest in Europe (55 TWh yearly), is projected to increase significantly by 2050. The German national hydrogen strategy anticipates a demand for imports of 45-90 TWh hydrogen by 2030 and 1 million tons (30 TWh) nationally produced hydrogen. Therefore, German industrial users have a unique opportunity to lead a large-scale green hydrogen market, achieving significant CO2 reductions.
The Danish-German region around the North Sea can become a European hotspot for green hydrogen, given the great renewable energy potential, especially offshore wind, electrolyser manufacturing capacity, and technological know-how on hydrogen and its derivatives. On the Danish side, the grid adjacent to the North Sea is expected to be 90% renewable from 2028 onwards, capable of delivering certified green hydrogen.
If Europe is to meet the common EU climate targets, promote European energy security, and sustain our industrial position by meeting the targets of the REPowerEU plan and the Net Zero Industry Act, national governments must help kickstart the green hydrogen offtake market. The demand pull will drive the development of innovative technologies and reduce costs in areas like electrolysis, where both Germany and Denmark excel.
Call for a Danish-German Hydrogen Infrastructure in 2028, Ramping-Up of Electrolyser Capacity, and Additional Funding to Accelerate Market Offtake
To realize these potentials, deliver on the EU and national targets, and sustain Northern Europe as an industrial hotspot for the green energy transition, we call for the German and Danish governments to advance the intended hydrogen infrastructure and the MoU, connecting our two countries’ supply and demand side by 2028. The final investment decision of the cross-border hydrogen infrastructure must be taken in mid-2024 to realize the deployment of the announced hydrogen infrastructure capacity between Germany and Denmark by 2028.
Further, the industry calls for a structured roadmap of increased EU and national funding to help close the price gap on green hydrogen in the immature market. This support should reflect the volume needed to reach the EU target of 10 million tons of hydrogen production by 2030, considering already assigned national aid for green hydrogen.
This support entails industry assistance to install the necessary electrolyser capacity (estimated 100 GW) and build a stable and reliable value chain sustainably. Additionally, support should open opportunities for cross-border projects to participate, facilitate intra-European trade of green hydrogen and its derivatives, and promote the need for a European Hydrogen backbone.
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