Joe Biden has ‘almost guaranteed’ Hydrogen’s future, Macquarie says

An H2 Tech sign for hydrogen technology on a Renault Scenic Vision hybrid concept vehicle, which features a recycable 40 KWH battery which is half the weight of the equivalent cells used in conventional electrical vehicles, at the ChangeNow summit in Paris, France, on Friday, May 20, 2022. Renault SA is developing a family-sized passenger car that will run on electricity for short drives and hydrogen for longer trips as part of the companys push into fuel-cell technology. Photographer: Benjamin Girette/Bloomberg

Green hydrogen’s future as a major energy source has been boosted by US President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which will push investment into the nascent carbon-free fuel, according to Macquarie Group Ltd.

The law, which provides producers with tax credits of as much as $3 a kilogram, “almost guarantees that hydrogen will be an important energy vector going forward,” Kate Vidgen, head of industrial transition and clean fuels at Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, said in an interview on Bloomberg TV.

Passed in August, the IRA contains $374 billion in energy and climate provisions, including tax credits for electric vehicles and incentives for clean-energy projects, in what the White House says is the largest-ever single investment to address climate change. Hydrogen, an emissions-free combustible gas when made using renewable energy, has been touted as a key alternative to fossil fuels but is still seen as too costly to compete with oil, natural gas and coal.

The IRA and Canada’s announcement of a similar policy last week may change that, Vidgen said. “There’s been quite a step change only in the last couple of months” in hydrogen’s outlook, she said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has had positive and negative effects on the switch to green energy sources, but will ultimately “accelerate” the energy transition, Vidgen said.

“What we’re seeing is a number of countries really focused on energy security and energy independence, and so that means you’re seeing much more in terms of government policy globally, which will be supportive of accelerating private capital investment,” she said.

Macquarie is a major investor in clean energy through the Green Investment Group, which it acquired from the UK government in 2017. Vidgen said wind and solar were now mature investments, and the company was now turning to emerging technologies such as batteries, sustainable fuels and hydrogen.