VDE FINANCIAL DIALOGUE HYDROGEN 2023 and HYDROGEN DIALOGUE Summit & Expo

On December 6, our VDE Financial Dialogue Hydrogen Innovation Stage event took place. Speakers with a variety of expertise in the field of hydrogen shared their insights on the bankability, insurability and financeability of the hydrogen economy.

Highlights included a market forecast from Tobias Berner of McKinsey and first-hand lessons from Dr. Philipp Matthes of the WUN H2 project.

Financing renewable energy projects is no easy task, as Erik Schäfer from SENCO hydrogen Capital explained. Our partners from Munich Re also emphasized the importance of the insurance perspective.

The Clean Air Task Force Markus Rosenthal focused on the regulatory challenges and how we can overcome them through more efficient and faster processes.

Investment and supply chains - Dr. Forstmeier from EIT InnoEnergy took on this challenging topic and explained the criteria needed to successfully attract capital and reduce risk.

The Quo Vadis discussion with Inaki Merkel from Horvath & Partners, Burkhard Holder, Program Director of the VDE Financial Dialogue, Markus Rosenthal and Patrick Hinze rounded off the discussion and showed where the hydrogen industry stands.

All in all, a very successful morning!

With partnerships or system rivals:
How do we create energy sovereignty in Germany and Europe?

This was the headline of our VDE Financial Dialogue High Level Panel held as part of the Hydrogen Dialogue Summit & Expo, in Nürnberg on the 7th. December.

Panelists Natalia Westhäuser, Erik Schäfer, Alf Henryk Wulf, Dr. Oliver Weinmann and Prof. Werner Tillmetz were led into discussion by moderator Jürgen Pfeiffer and discussed the market situation, outlook and priorities facing the hydrogen economy.

The stance on funding was hotly discussed - with a consensus that future investment must be targeted on projects that can stand on their own feet financially, with a sound business plan.

Energy dependencies have been high on the list of planning for the future, and geopolitical challenges have forced us to look at solutions to support independence in times of need. Partnering to strengthen the European production of Green Hydrogen would lessen the great CO2 footprint of sourcing this in other areas.

The bureaucratic jungle is well known, especially in Germany where regulations often hinder remaining competitive in the hydrogen market. There are many challenges here, and the process must be made more efficient with a clear reduction of red tape to get investors and facilitators of the hydrogen economy moving.

The hotly debated ban on PFAS compounds was also discussed, and the need to separate industrial use from consumer use must be highlighted.

Last but not least, the discussion covered the lack of skilled workers in the clean tech field. How do we make the field of hydrogen attractive to learners and skilled professionals - first, we need an active market that can define the roles.

We would like to thank the participants for taking part in this lively discussion and for sharing their expertise and insights. Our thanks also go to the sponsors of this year's Financial Dialogue Hydrogen, LPA-GGV, Clean Air Task Force, McKinsey & Company, Munich Re and Horváth & Partner Gmbh.

The VDE Financial Dialogue Hydrogen 2023 was compiled of Germany wide lead workshops, the innovation stage speaker event, and this high level panel. The full findings of these events will be available in a Whitepaper due for release in January 2024.

On December 6 and 7, 2023, the VDE FINANCIAL DIALOGUE HYDROGEN brought together national and international decision-makers and experts from business, politics and science along the entire value chain of the hydrogen economy.

The event promotes dialogue, knowledge exchange and networking between business, politics and the scientific community in order to support the successful ramp-up of the hydrogen economy in Europe.

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