IEA publishes Global Hydrogen Review 2024
The International Energy Agency (IEA) published its Global Hydrogen Review 2024. It’s an annual publication which tracks hydrogen production and demand worldwide, as well as progress in critical areas such as infrastructure development, trade, policy, regulation, investments, and innovation.
Clean hydrogen market penetration is growing fast, at a growth rate of 50% since 2021. Global installed electrolyser capacity has grown nine times larger.
Some takeaways from the report
However, in Europe, the electrolyser capacity installed only grew by a factor of three. This is a clear sign that Europe is losing its competitive advantage as first movers to China and the USA. Things have to rapidly improve to bring more clarity and certainty to get private capital going into important projects.
The interest from future consumers of clean hydrogen is also growing and a larger share of projects have now reached
the final investment decision (FID), 7% (from 4% last year). Still, this is not enough to preserve Europe’s market lead.
As the IEA points out, several important aspects need to be addressed, such as more support to get off-takers to sign long-term contracts, both economically and through infrastructure development. Considering the monumental challenge ahead, there should be more pragmatism in the definition of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen, avoiding unnecessary costs that impede the take-off of this nascent sector.
A full review is available here.
About Global Hydrogen Review
It is an annual publication by the International Energy Agency that tracks hydrogen production and demand worldwide and progress in critical areas such as infrastructure development, trade, policy, regulation, investments and innovation.
The report is an output of the Clean Energy Ministerial Hydrogen Initiative and is intended to inform energy sector stakeholders on hydrogen’s status and future prospects.
Focusing on hydrogen’s potential role in meeting international energy and climate goals, the Review aims to help decision-makers fine-tune strategies to attract investment and facilitate deployment of hydrogen technologies while creating demand for hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels.
It compares real-world developments with the stated ambitions of government and industry.
This year’s report specialises on Latin America and includes an analysis of recent developments of low-emissions hydrogen projects in the region and how to unlock demand and move towards project implementation. In addition, the report assesses in detail the greenhouse gas emissions associated with different hydrogen supply chains.
