Big plans for hydrogen development were announced this week in Germany, Namibia, Italy, Spain, Norway, Australia and the United States.

Austrian researchers have demonstrated a chemical looping system can be retrofitted into biogas plants. It is said the new tech can produce high-purity hydrogen for fuel cells on an industrial scale. The scientists concerned said their system could produce hydrogen, on a decentralized basis, for €5/kg.

UK research firm Wood Mackenzie reports that Northeast Asia and Europe are expected to become the main hydrogen importers, accounting for 55% of seaborne hydrogen trade, whereas Australia, the Middle East and, possibly, Russia and the U.S. have the greatest export potential. Plug Power and Lhyfe closed a deal to build green hydrogen generation plants throughout Europe.

Sergio Matalucci reports for pv magazine from the Key Energy event in Rimini on how the Italian solar market is currently dealing with the module price hike and the supply change disruption. According to the president of Italian association Italia Solare, difficulties to source modules in the market have intensified over the last four months.

In a chat with pv magazine at the Key Energy event in Rimini, Roberta Valenziani, of Italian trade body Elettricità Futura, explained the factors preventing Italy’s PV market from having a renaissance. She said the country has Europe’s longest delays and highest costs for obtaining permits for large scale solar.

Efforts are being made to come up with a less convoluted approach to planning farm-based solar systems, in the only EU member state which explicitly apportioned funds for agrivoltaics in its post-Covid spending plans.

Elsewhere, Snam and Toyota are pushing for more hydrogen-based mobility in Italy, and Woodside Petroleum wants to establish an export-oriented hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Australia.

New investments and partnerships announced this week see hydrogen projects developing across Europe, India, Asia and more. The current climate of high prices for natural gas has led one company to exclaim that green hydrogen is now competitive with its fossil fuel produced ‘grey’ counterpart, and research continues into optimizing hydrogen supply chains and smoothing its integration into the energy landscape.

This week sees hydrogen pricing hit new highs, driven by simultaneous jumps in the price of natural gas and electricity. Elsewhere, project plans include green hydrogen production at a UK brewery and Ineos building a 100 MW electrolyzer in Germany, machinery manufacturers Rolls Royce and JCB making plans for hydrogen engines, and new investment agreements signed in Belgium, Sweden and Kazakhstan.

Among other announcements, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded financing to a consortium of public, private, and academic experts to demonstrate a large-scale liquid hydrogen LH2 tank, a new hydrogen strategy has been unveiled by Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) state government, and Repsol and EDP have teamed up to assess new investment opportunities in renewable hydrogen projects across the Iberian Peninsula.