The green hydrogen investment gap

World Hydrogen Leaders – organiser of World Hydrogen Week says that the delivery of a new hydrogen economy is at risk from multiple financial hurdles, including lack of capital flowing in at the scale needed, inflationary pressures, resourcing, supply chain and infrastructure issues.

“Business hates inconsistency and risk and with around 75% of energy transition investment likely to come from the private sector, the recent U-turn from the government will undoubtedly cause uncertainty around the UK’s real level of commitment to emissions reduction”, said Nadim Chaudhry, chief executive officer, World Hydrogen Leaders.

“Abrupt changes in environmental policy at a time when around only 9% of new green hydrogen projects are under construction or have reached the final investment decision stage, may well add further delay onto what is already a challenging investment market.”

Overcoming challenges

Clean energy leaders from across the globe will be discussing these challenges head-on during World Hydrogen Week

There will also be sessions addressing policy in the wake of the recent announcement from the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, that 2030 climate targets will be extended to 2035 and beyond.

Some 1,000 new projects globally have been announced to date, requiring a total investment of $320 billion, however would-be developers have only committed $29 billion to date.

“Investors require a degree of certainty, more financial support and scale, which can be done through effective policies at various levels” said Devina Parasurama, director of infrastructure investments at Igneo Infrastructure Partners.

“At the national level, strategies with timelines and targets are the first step to creating a stable planning horizon and certainty for stakeholders.”

World Hydrogen Week will take place in Rotterdam, 9 to 13 October 2023.