German gas industry warns over wavering support for hydrogen ramp-up
FRANKFURT, Sept 18 (Reuters) -German gas and water association DVGW on Wednesday warned that a ramp-up in low-carbon hydrogen technology could fall behind as participants feel discouraged by regulatory and political indecision.
A survey taken from across hydrogen stakeholders in Europe's biggest economy found that the desired transition from carbon- emitting natural gas to hydrogen from renewable electricity via electrolysis is feared to be slowing.
Speakers at in an online press conference during DVGW's annual congress said they expected more determined action and less bureaucracy to dispel doubts about high costs and too little availability.
WHY ITS IMPORTANT?
The Berlin government wants national electrolysis capacity of 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 amid a raft of other measures concerning imports, transport, wholesale markets and storage, to create affordable new energy, to cut emissions and secure the long-term competitiveness of German industries.
Failure to uphold momentum would undermine industries' confidence, drive up energy costs and prolong the burning of coal, oil and gas.
KEY QUOTES:
Matthias Belitz, head of sustainability at chemical industry association VCI: "Even a good research and innovation environment is of little use if the applications are not competitive. Policymakers must urgently improve on this."
DVGW chairman Gerald Linke: "A clear political commitment that we cannot go without blue hydrogen (derived from gas with carbon sequestration) to bridge imports gaps ... would be an important signal."
Peter Mueller-Baum, executive at engineering and machine-building industries' group VDMA: "Our companies ... need more reliability and planning security for their investment decisions."
Roderik Hoemann, head of energy and climate at steel industry group WV Stahl: "In order to speed applications and with that, hydrogen demand, in the industry, (these factors) will be decisive: a coherent support framework, a quick infrastructure build-up and competitive power and hydrogen prices."
Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by David Evans
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