FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – Germany’s corona recovery stimulus package has earmarked 9 billion euros ($10 billion) for the expansion of hydrogen capacity at home and abroad in a bid to meet emission targets.
Under the plans, unveiled late on Wednesday as part of a larger 130 billion euro boost to the economy, Germany eyes hydrogen capacity of up to 5 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, with a further 5 GW to be installed by 2040 at the latest.
That will cost about 7 billion euros, while a further 2 billion euros is to be spent on forging partnerships with countries where hydrogen can be efficiently produced.
“The measures are aimed at making Germany the world’s supplier of state-of-the-art hydrogen technology,” the stimulus paper said, adding the government would explore the creation of a European hydrogen initiative to accelerate expansion.
A fully mapped out strategy will be presented shortly, the government said. Both parties have so far failed to reach an agreement on all issues.
The stimulus package also sets fixed prices for Germany’s renewable energy surcharge, the EEG, under which power consumers help fund the country’s solar and wind power expansion and which accounts for about a fifth of their electricity bill.
The EEG will fall to 6.5 euro cents per kilowatt hour in 2021 and 6.0 euro cents in 2022, the paper said, compared with 6.76 euro cents this year.
($1 = 0.8930 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Edward Taylor)
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