H2Global's projects

The H2Global meets Africa research project explores the socio-economic opportunities associated with renewable hydrogen production in Africa and how sustainable hydrogen partnerships between Africa and Europe can be established. The project analyses integrated value chains, local value creation, export opportunities, and the use of targeted financial support instruments to enhance the development of a renewable hydrogen economy in African countries and beyond.

In this project, H2Global has partnered with the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology and the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences, as well as with the African Development Bank. This research project is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Together with our partners, we work on:

• An integrated energy systems modelling approach for African countries and complete hydrogen value chains
• A clustering analysis of African countries according to their socio-economic potential for renewable hydrogen production
• Developing business models to produce renewable hydrogen and its derivatives
• Developing financial support instruments, tailored to the specific needs of renewable hydrogen projects in diverse African contexts
• Developing alternative pathways for African-European collaboration around the creation of a renewable hydrogen economy

Throughout the project, we are actively engaging with other research institutions, such as Strathmore University in Kenya, the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University (CGEP) in the United States, and the European Union-funded research project JustGreenAfrica. Furthermore, we actively engage with African stakeholders to ensure their views are contemplated in our analysis. Among others, we are organizing various stakeholder engagement workshops in Africa to discuss our research findings.

The H2Global Knowledge Hub extends and supports the ongoing work of the H2Global Foundation by establishing a knowledge and dialogue platform on the market ramp-up of clean hydrogen and its derivatives.

To this end, we form working groups engaging H2Global Foundation donors and Knowledge Partners from institutions such as the World Bank, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy, and the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. This research project is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

In general, the Knowledge Hub addresses topics pertaining to clean hydrogen and its derivatives, such as:

• Supply incentives
• Demand creation
• Infrastructure, logistics, and value chains
• Auction designs and results.

The results of the Knowledge Hub’s work are captured in reports and other relevant documentation available through the H2Global Foundation website. The working group reports are peer reviewed by reputed experts from several key institutions, such as:

• Agora Energiewende
• Bocconi University
• the Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Deloitte
• The Research Center for Energy Economics
• The Fraunhofer Institute for System and Innovation Research
• Frontier Economics
• Institute for Electrical Engineers Japan
• Roland Berger.