October 13, 2021 at 10:30

Join the Webinar on the 13th of October 2021

10:30 – 12:30 am (CET, Egypt); 09:30 – 11:30 am (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia); 08:30 – 10:30 am (Mauritania)
Virtual event: On Zoom
Translations available in Arabic, French and English
Register here.

What challenges need to be overcome to develop a green hydrogen trade? What policy measures are urgently needed?

This is the first in a series of workshops in the MENA region, organised by IRENA and the EU. The series addresses questions on how to initate a green hydrogen trade. This first workshop covers the North African context and the second the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The world economy needs to be powered by renewable electricity and as many processes as possible need to be electrified to reach climate neutrality. Green hydrogen and Power-to-X will play a crucial role in replacing fossil fuels and fossil-based hydrogen in industries and sectors that are hard to electrify. However, transitioning green hydrogen from its niche role to a globally used energy carrier requires an integrated policy approach to reach a minimum threshold for market penetration.

In countries with abundant renewable energy resources, such as those in North Africa with particularly low renewable electricity prices, green hydrogen and Power-to-X may emerge as key enablers of the energy transition. Together with direct electrification, it offers a way to contribute to energy security as countries can use their own renewable resources to reduce their dependency on imported fossil energy, diversify their energy mix, and improve the resilience of their energy systems.

There is an overarching agreement that the global hydrogen trade will be crucial on the path towards climate neutrality in the mid-to-long-term. But action needs to start today. Key actors must share experiences, demonstrate and further develop the technologies, and establish long-term relationships for bilateral trading.

Focus of the workshop

The workshop will focus on the key pillars, including: technology, standards and certification, financing and the creation of a market, and the following policy measures for overcoming key challenges in the short term:

  • Coordinating the co-development of hydrogen supply and demand;
  • Establishing a common methodology for certifying the GHG content of gases;
  • Financing hydrogen infrastructure development;
  • Sharing learnings between countries.

Discussion topics

  • The most conducive set-up for policy makers to 1) develop green hydrogen across the whole supply chain and 2) facilitate trade between the EU and MENA region (baseline: EU regulations, IPHE Methodology);
  • The status of the IPHE Methodology: the next steps needed to adopt it internationally and possible policy frameworks needed to implement it;
  • How to deepen the IRENA Collaborative Framework on Green Hydrogen activities with the private sector. This serves to enable country representatives to better understand the short-term needs of the industry.

Agenda

More information on the workshop is available here.

The workshops are organised by the Strategic Partnership for the Implementation of the Paris Agreement (SPIPA). SPIPA supports the EU’s efforts in climate policy and facilitates dialogue on climate policy options and good practices between the EU and non-European major economies. The International Power-to-X Hub Berlin supports SPIPA in organising this workshop series.

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