Delivering a presentation at COP27, McKinsey forecasts that hydrogen demand will reach 660m MT by 2050, accounting for 22% of global energy demand.

It highlighted three key areas, across production, midstream and offtake, where there is much work ahead.

Senior Partner Bernd Heid said, “The current energy crisis rather accelerates the momentum. It’s out of the question that hydrogen will play a key role in the energy transition.” He said currently 680 projects are in deployment, accounting for $240bn in investment to 2030.

With Europe set to be net importers, hydrogen presents many opportunities to MENA, which were discussed in a panel.

Alicia Eastman, President of InterContinental Energy, said scalability is an issue for the industry. “By having scale we can attract supply chain companies to build dedicated facilities next to our projects, as we can guarantee an order book,” she said.

Thierry Lepercq, Founder and President, HyDeal, said it aimed to deliver 330,000 tonnes of hydrogen from 2025, at €2.5 a kilogram.

“Pipelines are ultimately the biggest challenge, because if you’re selling a product it’s an easy job, but where do you deliver it?”

Eastman said large projects take time to materialise, as they must complete studies, data collection, and regulatory/EPA approvals.

“We shouldn’t be looking at projects that are announced and expecting them to have FID the next day. A lot of countries have slowed down regulatory processes, especially for transmission. That’s why we are shipping our product because we can’t rely on pipelines being built in time, as they won’t be approved in time.”

Lepercq highlighted Mauritania as a country which is “showing the way” on hydrogen, saying HyDeal is collaborating on off-takes.

“Name one country which has a clear strategy on hydrogen – it’s not in Europe, but Africa. Mauritania wants to transform its country into the next UAE. It’s signing with a major oil company right now, a framework agreement for the production of potentially millions of tonnes of hydrogen.”

The hydrogen economy will be a hot topic at the upcoming MENA Industrial Gases Conference in Abu Dhabi between December 12-14.