Green hydrogen: KfW pushes strategy

hydrogen filling station

So far, green hydrogen has only been produced in small quantities using electricity from renewable energies using electrolysis.

(Photo: dpa)

Frankfurt The state development bank KfW is to play a central role in the implementation of the strategy for green hydrogen in Germany. KfW will look after two pots of money: the Power-to-X growth fund of 300 million euros and the Power-to-X development fund of 250 million euros, says Thorsten Schneider, head of KfW’s hydrogen task force.

The first fund is commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, the second by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. “The funds are interest-free, non-repayable investment grants for companies in Germany and state institutions in the partner countries. The initiative will start in 2023,” says Schneider in an interview with the Handelsblatt.

Green hydrogen is produced from renewable energies such as wind power and solar power and is considered an important building block for reducing dependence on coal and gas. However, Germany is currently not in a position to meet the demand on its own.

“It is also about making green hydrogen more competitive. Today, this form of energy is around three times as expensive as gray hydrogen from fossil fuels,” explains Schneider, who is also Team Leader Energy North Africa at KfW Development Bank.

Top jobs of the day

Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.

According to Schneider, a core part of the initiative will be KfW’s PtX platform, a website for both funds and complementary financing offers from the development institute. You can contact KfW with your project and your capital requirements. The website should be activated from November 15th.

“The aim is to mobilize private capital. With an expected leverage of five, at least 2.5 billion euros should be mobilized,” expects energy expert Schneider. The entire “National Hydrogen Strategy” of the Federal Government was endowed with nine billion euros, of which seven billion for domestic measures and two billion for international cooperation.

>> Read here: Up to 19 percent share of fossil energy companies – The truth about sustainable investments

At a press conference on Tuesday in the German pavilion at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze and Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, Stefan Wenzel, presented the new German offer together with KfW Board Member Christiane Laibach.

Most recently, the German economy had also pushed to advance hydrogen. The energy company Eon, for example, believes that Germany is not sufficiently prepared. With a view to the year 2030, neither the domestic production capacity for climate-neutral hydrogen is sufficient, nor can German import requirements be covered. In addition, there is a lack of infrastructure to bring hydrogen to customers.

So far, green hydrogen has only been produced in small quantities using electricity from renewable energies using electrolysis. According to a recent study by KGAL Investment Management, in which experts from Aurora Energy Research, Fraunhofer ISE, Roland Berger and Watson Farley & Williams have contributed.

A massive expansion of the infrastructure for green hydrogen is therefore necessary – and should also be tackled with the help of the KfW funds presented.

More: Criticism from US investors: Germany is becoming less attractive as a business location

source site-11