Australia, Indonesia interested in hydrogen cooperation with Germany - report

Australia and Indonesia could supply green hydrogen to Germany as Europe's largest economy will need to import the clean fuel in order to meet its needs, especially in the industry and transportation.

Germany and Australia could benefit from their mutual advantage that Australia is a potential big exporter of hydrogen while Germany is likely a major importer, Australia's ambassador to Germany Philip Green said at the Handelsblatt Hydrogen Summit on Thursday as quoted by newspaper Handelsblatt.

Green noted that German companies are able to provide the technology needed by project developers in Australia to build hydrogen plants which is another reason for potential cooperation.

Indonesia's ambassador Arif Havas Oegroseno also signalled the Southeast Asian country's interest in a partnership with Germany. Oegroseno emphasised that Indonesia has a huge capacity for renewable energy and plans to deploy more green energy. For this purpose, it needs investments and is already in advanced talks with a German investor, Oegroseno noted.

The National Hydrogen Strategy sets a target of 500,000 tonnes of clean hydrogen to be produced in Germany annually by the end of the decade and many experts assume that the country will need to import up to 80% of the green hydrogen to meet demand on the local market as it lacks areas to generate enough solar and wind power.

To secure enough supply, Berlin is planning imports from Australia, the Gulf region and Saudi Arabia, Scotland and Ireland, Stefan Kaufmann, Innovation Commissioner for Green Hydrogen at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) said at the summit.

On her part, Katherina Reiche, the chairwoman of the National Hydrogen Council, noted that Germany has an innovative industry with companies such as Thyssenkrupp AG's (ETR:TKA) hydrogen unit Nucera and start-ups such as hydrogen generators maker Enapter AG (ETR:H2O). Along with international partnerships, the federal government should also create a political framework for hydrogen and support the sector, according to Reiche.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!