Renewable hydrogen produced from electrolysers powered by renewable electricity, or green hydrogen, will cost less than low-carbon hydrogen, also known as blue hydrogen, by 2030, according to a report published on Wednesday 7 April by the research centre BloombergNEF.
Covering 28 countries that together accounted for a third of the world’s gross domestic product in 2019, the paper further states that green hydrogen is expected to be cheaper than natural gas by 2050 in 15 of the 28 markets examined.
The main reason: the fall in solar electricity prices, which has been greater than expected.
According to BloombergNEF experts, photovoltaic electricity will be 40% cheaper in 2050 than they thought only 2 years ago, thanks to a series of technological advances.
“Such low costs for hydrogen from renewable sources can completely redraw the energy map”, said Martin Tengler, an analyst at BNEF, quoted by Reuters.
He added, “In the future, at least 33% of the world’s economy could use clean energy without paying a penny more than for fossil fuels”. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)