BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 11. Annual investments in hydrogen are expected to reach $165 million by 2030, and $470 million by 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts, Trend reports via the IEA’s publication.
As the report said, the global demand for hydrogen will multiple almost six-fold by 2050, with half of this demand in industry and transport.
Meanwhile, the global electrolyzer capacity must increase to 3,600 GW in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“In the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, low-emissions production takes off quickly, reaching around 150 Mt in 2030 and 520 Mt by 2050. This requires a massive increase in electrolysis capacity, from 0.3 GW today to close to 850 GW by 2030 and almost 3 600 GW by 2050. The material requirements for electrolyzers at this scale would greatly increase overall global demand for platinum group metals, which has a concentrated supply, and nickel, for which demand for batteries is also set to rise sharply,” the report said.
According to the 2050 Scenario, CO2 captured in low-emissions hydrogen production also must increase 180-fold from 2020 levels.
“Hydrogen is particularly promising as a means of storing low-emissions electricity to balance electricity systems and to drastically reduce emissions from sectors where emissions are hard to abate, notably long-distance transport and heavy industry,” the IEA concluded.
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