German minister aims to boost hydrogen market amid energy transition

German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche wants to accelerate the development of a hydrogen market, as Europe's biggest economy aims to become climate-neutral.

A 10-point plan presented by Reiche's ministry on Monday includes a proposal to support companies considering using hydrogen in their production processes with "differential cost contracts," meaning the state would bear part of the risk of higher costs.

Alongside renewables, Germany expects hydrogen to play a key role in the transition to clean industry. However, so far hydrogen is still too expensive to be considered a viable alternative to fossil fuels.

Reiche also intends to create an incentive for power stations to use hydrogen and to advocate at the EU level for "overly rigid criteria" on the use of hydrogen to be amended. 

The minister also stressed that Germany should import hdyrogen in large quantities, with her ministry working on strategic partnerships to this end.

Furthermore, Reiche aims to facilitate the use of low-carbon hydrogen produced from natural gas, also known as "blue" hydrogen.

In the long term, however, the aim is to use primarily climate-neutral hydrogen, which is also referred to as "green" hydrogen.