FT商学院

Expensive ‘green’ hydrogen jeopardises German industrial energy transition

Unless cost of hydrogen made from renewable energy falls, some manufacturers would have to use fossil fuels, warn executives

Executives of Germany’s leading manufacturing and energy industries have warned that “green” hydrogen is still far too expensive compared with other fuels, raising doubts over a key plank of the country’s efforts to cut carbon emissions.

Miguel Ángel López Borrego, chief executive of German steel major Thyssenkrupp, warned that unless the cost of hydrogen made from renewable energy fell, the company would have to resort to fossil fuels to run a steel plant which was intended to be its flagship green facility in the industrial town of Duisberg.