Ireland’s Minister Ryan Welcomes Publication of the National Hydrogen Strategy

Ireland has the natural resources to become a world leader in the production of green energy. Our wind resources are amongst the best in the world. Hydrogen represents one of the best ways of capturing these resources. If Ireland can harness the opportunities offered by renewable hydrogen, we can achieve our goals of a zero-carbon, secure energy system and potentially become an exporter to the emerging hydrogen markets establishing across Europe. Ireland has recently signed an agreement with Germany to supply “green hydrogen” from what is regarded internationally as our significant renewable energy potential.

Renewable hydrogen is zero-carbon fuel that can play a key role in the “difficult-to-decarbonise” sectors of our economy where other solutions such as direct electrification are not feasible or cost effective. In the coming years, renewable hydrogen is envisioned to play an important role as a zero-emission source of dispatchable, flexible electricity, as a long duration store of renewable energy, in decarbonising industrial processes, and as a transport fuel in sectors such as heavy goods transport, maritime and aviation.

There have been 21 short-term actions identified within the strategy to enable the development of the hydrogen sector in Ireland. These actions aim to remove any barriers which could inhibit early hydrogen projects from progressing today, and to enhance our knowledge through targeted research and innovation across the hydrogen value chain, laying the groundwork to deliver on our long-term strategic vision for hydrogen in Ireland.

Ireland will focus its efforts on the scale up and production of renewable “green” hydrogen as it supports both our decarbonisation and energy security needs. Prior to 2030, hydrogen production will target grid-connected electrolysis from surplus renewables.

A 2GW target to produce renewable hydrogen sourced from offshore wind is also set to be in development by 2030, which will help to provide greater certainty for investors and create the scales needed to enable greater infrastructure deployment.

Speaking about the strategy, Minister Ryan said:

“The National Hydrogen Strategy is our first major policy statement on renewable hydrogen and marks an important first step in developing an indigenous hydrogen sector in Ireland.

“Our wind resources are amongst the best in the world. Using these resources to create hydrogen, and targeting it towards those sectors which are considered hard to decarbonise, will be integral part in ensuring the decarbonisation and security of our energy system into the future. Ireland can become a green hydrogen powerhouse from our renewable energy potential.”