Hydrogen Council publishes new Global Hydrogen Compass

Today, the Hydrogen Council released the latest version of its flagship publication, the ‘Global Hydrogen Compass 2026’. Together with McKinsey and on the basis of extensive interviews with industry leaders, this report delves deeply into industry progress and the renewed role of hydrogen.

Renewed role

The report shows that the drivers of hydrogen development have evolved over the last years. Whereas initially hydrogen was mostly viewed as a means for decarbonisation, this has expanded to include energy security & food system resilience and industrial growth as key drivers. With energy demand rising rapidly across the globe, through the expansion of energy-intensive sectors (such as data centres) and growing electrification, and increasing volatility, as evidenced by repeated energy crises, hydrogen can provide a stabilising option. Through domestic production and import routes, it can diversify the energy mix and provide more system flexibility, especially when deployed alongside complementary technologies.

Increasing committed investment

The Compass highlights that the global cumulative committed clean hydrogen investment has topped USD$ 130 billion by 2026. Since 2021, the average annual growth in committed investment has been 45%. In total, this investment translates to 6.9 million tonnes of annual production capacity, spread over 570 projects. The currently operational capacity stands at about 1.7 million tonnes per year and is projected to more than double over the next year. So far, the majority of the committed capacity is in North America and China, while Europe boasts the most new additional projects, mainly at a smaller scale. The Hydrogen Council sees the project scale increasing as the pipeline matures, signalling imminent at-scale hydrogen deployment.

Demand potential

The Hydrogen Council stresses that the implementation of existing policies would essentially double firm demand by 2030. The report indicates that the connection between supply, demand and infrastructure is critical for the formation of hydrogen ecosystems. Policies are important to shape the regulatory framework within which such ecosystems can be realised. The transposition of the EU’s REDIII legislation for the mobility sector is hailed as a successful example. Further enactment of policies that have already been established, like the full transposition of REDIII, will significantly boost the demand side. 11 million tonnes per annum in clean hydrogen demand globally can be unlocked this way. This bankable demand, coupled with the aforementioned increase on the supply side, could herald a further acceleration in hydrogen deployment.

What this means for Amsterdam

The port of Amsterdam represents the infrastructure that will form the link between this supply and demand. Several members of the H2A Association pursue the realisation of at-scale import infrastructure, so that large volumes of hydrogen can be brought to the European market. Combined with the creation of a local hydrogen ecosystem, where imports are connected to regional end users, the port of Amsterdam can thus play a significant role in capturing the valuable contribution hydrogen will make to energy security, food system resilience, industrial growth and decarbonisation.

Read the full report: https://compass.hydrogencouncil.com/