European Green Hydrogen Partnerships with Africa( Germany-Namibia and Austria-Tunisia ) was an event held on 30th January 2023 that focused on exploring the opportunities for hydrogen energy in Africa. The event was organized by the Austrian Chapter of the Club of Rome and was aimed at promoting the growth and development of the hydrogen industry in Africa.
The event was attended by a diverse group of participants including government officials, industry leaders, and experts in the field of hydrogen energy. The focus of the event was to explore the potential for green hydrogen projects in Africa and to create partnerships between Europe and Africa in this field.
The Austrian parliament has recently adopted a 5,7 billion Euro industry transformation budget until 2030 (“Klima und Transformation Offensive für Österreichs Industrie”). The EU has defined a “Global gateway” strategy seeking to leverage investments of 300 billion Euro and an “External energy engagement” strategy addressing our neighbours and promoting the development of a mutually beneficial green hydrogen market and transport infrastructure. Germany is leading the way with Thyssen-Krupp currently building a 2000 MW electrolyser at the 5000 MW PV-park NEOM in Saudi Arabia and, most recently, with the new flagship cooperation project HYPHEN in Namibia, aiming at an electrolyser capacity of 6000 MW for green hydrogen and ammonia production.
The Austrian Chapter of the Club of Rome has started the reflection on the role of energy transition partnerships for promoting the Paris agreement with the conference “Energy transition beyond Austrian borders” in September 2021, followed by “Energy transition for all – how much energy for a net zero economy?” in June 2022. In this third conference the focus is on discussing and promoting concrete action and partnerships.
Two major partnerships were announced during the event – the Germany-Namibia Green Hydrogen Partnership and the Austria-Tunisia Green Hydrogen Partnership. These partnerships aim to bring together the technical expertise of European nations and the vast natural resources of African nations to create a sustainable and thriving hydrogen energy sector in Africa.
The Germany-Namibia Green Hydrogen Partnership will focus on exploring the potential for wind and solar-powered hydrogen production in Namibia, while the Austria-Tunisia Green Hydrogen Partnership will focus on developing hydrogen energy solutions for the transportation sector in Tunisia.
The European Green Hydrogen Partnerships with Africa event was a huge success and demonstrated the commitment of European nations to promote the growth of the hydrogen energy sector in Africa. The partnerships announced during the event will provide a strong foundation for the development of green hydrogen projects in Africa and will help to drive the growth of the hydrogen industry in the region.