Seminar: Enabling a Sustainable Hydrogen Market Ramp-Up
Date: 24th March 2025 (full day)
Venue: Palais de Nations (UN), 8-14 Avenue de la Paix Geneva, Switzerland (Room H-307-1)
Collaboration: RIFS, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Florence School of Regulation, UNECE
About the Event
The success of an international hydrogen market hinges not only on investments in hydrogen supply and demand, but also on the development of the needed infrastructure to transport and store hydrogen. Moreover, to build the credentials of hydrogen as an energy carrier of the future, it will be crucial to build an institutional infrastructure to increase the sustainability of hydrogen investments. This means not only ensuring desired greenhouse gas savings but also addressing broader social and environmental concerns.
The Research Institute for Sustainability at GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences organizes an In-Person Seminar, in collaboration with the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, the Florence School of Regulation, and the UN Economic Commission for Europe. The event will take place as a side event of the UNECE Resource Management held the full week of March in Geneva Switzerland.
This workshop addresses these two dimensions of an international hydrogen market ramp-up in two parts:
Part 1 provides an overview of the state-of-play in hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure. Based on inputs from leading experts, the workshop will engage participants in a discussion of key challenges and open questions on hydrogen infrastructure development.
Part 2 will foster an exchange on progress in establishing the sustainability credentials of hydrogen, including its carbon footprint and broader social and environmental issues. A number of expert inputs will provide a review of current requirements, as demanded by regulations in major offtake markets, certification schemes and the rules applied by investors and financial institutions. This will be followed by an open dialogue on the key challenges and the way forward in accelerating the hydrogen market ramp-up while ensuring sustainability in the sector.
Program - 24/03/2025
Welcome and Keynote
- 08:30 – Welcome coffee
- 09:00 – Seminar opening by UNECE
- 09:15 – Keynote: ‘Clean hydrogen market in the making: the importance of infrastructure, finance and sustainability considerations’
Part 1: Hydrogen Transport and Storage Infrastructure
- 09:45 – Introduction and panel discussion #1 ‘Pipelines and storage infrastructure’
- 11:15 – Coffee and networking
- 11:45 – Panel discussion #2 ‘Maritime shipping’
Lunch Break
Part 2: Establishing Sustainability Credentials of Hydrogen
- 14:00 – Introduction and panel discussion #3 ‘CO2 standards and certification: the state-of-play and the way forward’
- 15:30 – Coffee and networking
- 16:00 – Panel discussion #4 ‘Beyond CO2: Ensuring sustainable investment in a hydrogen economy’
- 17:30 – Closing remarks and following farewell drink
Confirmed speakers
Dr Andrei Tchouvelev (Hydrogen Council), Roland Schulze (European Investment Bank), Raghavan Narayanan (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ), Henry Rushton (ING), Ruta Baltause (European Commission), Marian Rodriguez (Climate Bond Initiative), Erhan Erdogan (Hydrogenius LOHC), Jeremy Brillet (Romande Energie) Siegfried Kiss (RAG Austria), Ning Lin (BEG UT Austin), Peter Wells (LH2 Europe) and many more from the finance sector, industry, and government.
Registration
Please find the registration form here
Contact:
Alex Patonia – aliaksei [dot] patonia [at] oxfordenergy [dot] org (aliaksei[dot]patonia[at]oxfordenergy[dot]org)
Rainer Quitzow – rainer [dot] quitzow [at] rifs-potsdam [dot] de (rainer[dot]quitzow[at]rifs-potsdam[dot]de)
Branko Milicevic – branko [dot] milicevic [at] un [dot] org (branko[dot]milicevic[at]un[dot]org)
Ilaria Conti – ilaria [dot] conti [at] eui [dot] eu (ilaria[dot]conti[at]eui[dot]eu)
This event receives funding support from the German Federal Foreign Office within the context of the project ‘Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation: Sustainability Governance in the Hydrogen Sector’