The World Bank Group announced the creation of the Hydrogen for Development Partnership (H4D), a new global initiative to boost the deployment of low-carbon H₂ in developing countries.

H4D will help catalyze significant financing for H₂ investments in the next few years, both from public and private sources. The partnership will foster capacity building and regulatory solutions, business models and technologies toward the roll out of low-carbon H₂ in developing countries. Through H4D, developing countries will gain further access to concessional financing and technical assistance to scale up H₂ projects.

“Low-carbon hydrogen can have a significant role in countries seeking to accelerate their clean energy transition,” said David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group. “Our new hydrogen partnership will enable developing countries to prepare low-carbon hydrogen projects and boost energy security and resilience for their people while lowering emissions.”

Low-carbon H₂ offers a solution to decarbonize heavy industries that produce more than 25% of global CO₂ emissions, for which there is presently no viable alternative to fossil fuels. Low-cost, low-carbon H₂ fuel can become a viable replacement for diesel in transportation. H₂ also has the potential to provide long-term energy storage options and bolster the reliability of renewable energies with variable outputs, like solar photovoltaics and wind.

For low- and middle-income countries, low-carbon H₂ has the potential to generate export revenues, creating a value-added export sector that generates jobs for skilled labor and helps promote food security, since H₂ can be used to produce ammonia, a key component of fertilizers. It can also generate energy capacity to meet local needs, including decarbonizing in-country manufacturing and smelting sectors, and provide energy access to remote populations.

The main activities of the H4D partnership, to be hosted in the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program of the World Bank, will include:

• Convening international cooperation to increase the knowledge base in low-carbon H₂ technologies for developing countries.
• Building capacities by following a global public goods approach.
• Understanding requirements from emerging markets and the private sector for the deployment of low-carbon H₂ and its derivatives.
• Creating opportunities to inform innovation and for new technologies to gain visibility.
• Generating policy dialogue on enabling the deployment of low-carbon H₂ across countries.
• Fostering collaboration with private sector partners for clean H₂