Working Groups
Accelerating hydrogen deployment requires action on multiple fronts. For now, most of the focus has been on “supply-side/push incentives” through financial tools like tax credits or funding programs to support developers. However, on-the-ground experience suggests that “demand-pull” measures are also needed to help mitigate the risk of market failure. Investment in hydrogen-related infrastructure must be accelerated, not least considering infrastructure projects’ often long lead times. Additionally, social acceptance of clean hydrogen projects must be secured for the successful development of the hydrogen economy.
The H2Global Foundation has thus formed the following working groups for 2025:
From ports to offtakers: Scaling last-mile hydrogen infrastructure
Infrastructure is critical in developing a robust and reliable hydrogen supply chain. Well-developed hydrogen infrastructure, comprising production, transport, storage, and distribution facilities, will promote efficiency and reduce end-user costs, helping to increase adoption. Developing hydrogen infrastructure, however, involves several significant challenges, including extensive permitting, uncertainty about regulation and the development of volumes, as well as significant upfront investments.
WG1 evaluates various options for last-mile and reconversion infrastructure to facilitate the transport of hydrogen products to final offtakers. The analysis focuses on identifying physical, financial and regulatory gaps that impact the build-up of last-mile and reconversion infrastructure for clean hydrogen.
The main conclusions of WG1 will be summarized in a peer-reviewed report on scaling last-mile hydrogen infrastructure to be published in late 2025.
Shoring up demand: Identifying effective instruments that support clean hydrogen demand build-up
Policymakers around the world have taken a variety of measures to tackle the challenges affecting clean hydrogen demand creation such as cost, infrastructure requirements, volume security needs, and inadequate value chain coordination. For the cost-of-difference issue, these include, and are not limited to, carbon pricing, CAPEX support for offtakers investing in new assets to use clean hydrogen, carbon-contracts-for-difference, and H2Global’s double-sided auctions.
WG2 investigates instruments that were used to support renewable energy, or natural gas adoption, to help identify additional tools to support demand build-up of clean hydrogen. The WG2 report will identify and assess various support instruments in terms of their effectiveness in spurring demand for clean hydrogen and derivatives in different contexts. The goal is to showcase examples of effective support instruments combined with general policy measures that have a strong positive impact on clean hydrogen demand creation.
The main conclusions of WG2 will be summarized in a peer-reviewed report on identifying effective instruments that support clean hydrogen demand build-up to be
Matter of trust: Securing a Social License to Operate for clean hydrogen projects
The social license to operate (SLO), a concept originally used in the forestry and mining sectors, is now understood as the level of approval that an industry, organization, or project realizes from communities and other stakeholders. The concept has often been defined by evaluating key factors such as trustworthiness, and the interpersonal relationships between institutions and actors.Despite existing, decade-long experience in handling hydrogen and its derivatives, the nascent clean hydrogen sector must invest into acquiring and maintaining SLO for its long-term sustainability.
WG3 discusses how the SLO has been pursued in other industries (extractives, energy and infrastructure) to gather insights and lessons learned as well as how the SLO concept is already being applied to clean hydrogen projects. The goal is to develop recommendations and pathways to build, maintain and secure SLO for clean hydrogen projects.
The main conclusions of WG3 will be summarized in a peer-reviewed report on securing, building and maintaining a social license to operate to be published in 2025.