The cost of clean hydrogen will fall to that of liquefied natural gas in a decade as global efforts to replace fossil fuels accelerate, according to Europe’s biggest operator of gas infrastructure.
"Green hydrogen today is not economically competitive against alternative energy sources, which will not be the case in 10 years’ time,” Thomas Baudlot, chief executive officer of energy solutions for Asia-Pacific at French utility Engie, said in an interview. The fuel is "very much part of the strategy of Engie.”
Interest in hydrogen, which is considered green if it is made using electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar, is rapidly growing amid a global effort to cut dependence on coal and natural gas. Those efforts have intensified after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February curbed fuel supplies and increased prices. While the clean technology is still in its early stages, 35 countries have a hydrogen plan and 17 are preparing one, helping reduce the cost of the electrolyzers needed to produce the fuel, according to BloombergNEF.