German green hydrogen dreams need more than just government money to come true
German green hydrogen market grows slower than planned despite government support. Current projects reach only 9% of 2030s target while facing high costs and unclear rules for new investors
E.ON points out that German green-hydrogen market still cant stand on its own feet without public money. The companyʼs research (done with EWI institute) shows some progress: projects ready-to-go jumped to 9% from 3% of the countrys big 2030 goal
The government wants to reach 11‚3 GW of clean hydrogen production to help heavy industry get greener but current rules dont give investors much confidence. High power costs make future hydrogen production look too expensive‚ and unclear regulations stop many business-people from jumping in
The numbers show some movement: capacity went up 68% since last spring reaching 111 MW (which isnt much compared to the final goal). Import plans look more promising though; Germany expects to bring in 50-70% of needed hydrogen from other countries by 2030
The state-owned KfW bank put forward a huge 24-billion-euro loan to build main hydrogen pipes across the country. But even with such big money E.ON says:
The run-up of the hydrogen economy remains weak . Only the support pledges under the Important Projects of Common European Interest are boosting increases in production capacity and in investment decisions
Without fixing these issues Germany might lose its chance to keep up with China and US in the new green-energy race
