Germany and Saudi Arabia want to cooperate on hydrogen

Germany and Saudi Arabia have signed a declaration of intent to cooperate closely in the areas of production, processing, application and transport of green hydrogen. German energy minister Peter Altmaier said: "In order to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and successfully shape our energy transition, Germany is dependent on the import of climate-neutral hydrogen”. He and his counterpart Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud signed the memorandum of understanding which includes the aim to implement specific hydrogen projects (e.g. NEOM) and start a knowledge exchange and cooperation in the private sector on technology, economy and regulation. In its hydrogen strategy, the German government has identified a demand of 90-110 terawatt-hours of climate-neutral hydrogen by 2030, a high proportion of which will have to be imported. With the support of the government, German industry is working to become a leader along the whole hydrogen value chain, including the use of hydrogen to create synthetic fuels such as e-kerosene. Due to the good conditions for the generation of renewable electricity, Saudi Arabia can become an important supplier of green hydrogen in the long term, the energy ministry said in a press release.

In June 2020, the German government published its National Hydrogen Strategy. The country plans to use hydrogen as a key element in its energy transition and especially in sectors (industry, transport) where greenhouse gas emissions are otherwise difficult to reduce.