The Franco-German Office for the Energy Transition (DFBEW) is a platform that facilitates networking and information exchange between businesses and politicians. Since 2006, it has promoted cooperation between the two countries in renewable energy, energy storage, and general security of supply. Particular focus is given to the decarbonisation of industry and the development and implementation of hydrogen technologies.

Germany and France have set ambitious hydrogen targets to be achieved by 2030. Despite these ambitious political goals, however, the sector’s development in Europe is currently stalling. High production costs, strict EU regulations and uncertain demand caused by economic problems are currently preventing the market from growing quickly.

Against this backdrop, the 6 October conference will explore ways to drive the roll-out of hydrogen forward. Various legislative measures at the European and national levels will be examined, new approaches to hydrogen production will be presented and the growing emphasis on demand-side incentives will be discussed.

The conference will also examine the hydrogen strategies of Germany and France, as well as current legislative developments. The focus will be on reducing production costs through innovation and storage, exploring new production approaches such as natural hydrogen and accelerating the ramp-up of the market via the demand side and the EU funding framework.

The DFBEW is hosting the conference ‘Energy for Industry: Prices, Flexibility and Decarbonisation‘. The focus will be on cost control solutions and ways to increase flexibility in response to fluctuating energy prices. The use of hydrogen as a key decarbonisation technology will be discussed, and it will be introduced as a bridge to the afternoon programme.