Hydrogen produced with renewable electricity could compete on costs with fossil fuel alternatives by 2030, detailed in the ‘Green Hydrogen Cost Reduction: Scaling up Electrolysers to Meet the 1.5⁰C Climate Goal’ published by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

IRENA stated That the report looks at drivers for innovation and presents strategies that governments can peruse to reduce the cost of electrolysers by 40% in the short term and by up to 80% in the long term.

It said that currently green hydrogen is two to three times more expensive than blue hydrogen, produced from fossil fuels in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS). Although, using low-cost renewable electricity at $20 a megawatt-hour in large, cost-competitive electrolyser facilities, it could produce green hydrogen at a competitive cost with blue hydrogen available today.

If rapid scale-up and aggressive electrolysers deployment take place in the next decade, green hydrogen could then start competing on costs with blue hydrogen by 2030 in many countries, making it cheaper than other low-carbon alternatives before 2040.

IRENA director-general Francesco La Camera said: “Renewable hydrogen can be a game-changer in global efforts to decarbonise our economies."

Already many companies are making a move towards hydrogen including the recent news that DEME Concessions and OQ Alternative Energy have signed a partnership to develop a green hydrogen plant in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm, Oman and RWE Generation who are to set up a new hydrogen business unit, effective from 1 February 2021.

RWE said the new unit will be responsible for developing and implementing the RWE hydrogen strategy and will promote the respective projects in the company’s core markets. They are currently driving over 30 hydrogen projects in Germany, The Netherlands and UK in collaboration with other companies and scientific institutions.

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