Germany has announced it will open two ‘hydrogen diplomacy’ offices in Ukraine and Nigeria as it looks to secure supplies of the fuel from around the world.

A recent report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena)—partially funded by the German Foreign Office—found that trade in hydrogen and its downstream products, as well as investment flows, will have an effect on bilateral relations and create new ties and dependencies.

Visiting Kiev this week, new Germany foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said she wanted to help strengthen ties with Ukraine.

“I therefore want to talk about initiatives for the sustainable modernisation of the Ukrainian energy sector, about the development of the green hydrogen market and offers of support with cyber-defence,” she says.

“Ukraine has huge potential for green hydrogen” German Foreign Office

The Kiev office will assist in the process of getting Ukrainian hydrogen projects approved and constructed so that they can then export the fuel to Germany.

The Germany Foreign Office tweeted during the meeting that: “Ukraine has huge potential for green hydrogen.”

Looking overseas

The hydrogen office in Abuja aims to connect decision-makers, experts and companies from Germany and Nigeria and to offer expert advice on the opportunities and challenges posed by the hydrogen economy.

It will expand on the activities of the German-Nigerian energy partnership, which has been in place since 2008.

Germany also has energy partnerships with Algeria, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey and the UAE.

Decarbonising

Germany requires large quantities of hydrogen in order to become climate neutral by 2045. The federal government’s National Hydrogen Strategy, published in June 2020, envisages the promotion of international cooperation as well as the creation of a domestic hydrogen market.

Since then, Germany’s new coalition government has set out a new strategy to accelerate the country’s deployment of renewable power and green hydrogen as part of a plan to triple its emissions reduction rate between now and 2030.

That new strategy says the government will “further develop” the existing €900mn ($1.02bn) H2Global hydrogen trade scheme, which supports green hydrogen projects outside the EU by offering them guaranteed offtake deals.

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Author: Tom Young