Vietnam aims to produce up to 500,000 tonnes of clean hydrogen by 2030 as part of new national H2 strategy

Government seeks international investors to develop both green and blue hydrogen for export and domestic use

Conference held by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade on 22 February to discuss the new hydrogen strategy among officials across the country.
Conference held by Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade on 22 February to discuss the new hydrogen strategy among officials across the country.Photo: Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade
Vietnam has approved a new national hydrogen strategy that aims to produce 100,000-500,000 tonnes of clean H2 annually by 2030, rising to 10-20 million tonnes by 2050.

Stay ahead on hydrogen with our free newsletter

Keep up with the latest developments in the international hydrogen industry with the free Accelerate Hydrogen newsletter. Sign up now for an unbiased, clear-sighted view of the fast-growing hydrogen sector.
Sign up now

As part of the strategy, the government is seeking foreign investors to help produce green and blue hydrogen in the country, which will either be exported or used domestically for transport, heavy industry and power generation, meeting about 10% of the nation’s final energy demand by 2050.

“The overall goal of the strategy is to develop Vietnam’s hydrogen energy ecosystem based on renewable energy, including production, storage, transportation, distribution, domestic use and export to downstream countries,” the Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement.

It added that the production of hydrogen “from other energy sources (such as coal, oil and gas)... that capture carbon” would also contribute to the targets.

In the run-up to 2030, Vietnam wants to “gradually develop the hydrogen energy market in accordance with, and in sync with, the fuel conversion roadmap in energy-using sectors of the economy including electricity production, transportation (road, rail, waterway, air), industry (steel, cement, chemical, oil refining, other industrial), commercial and residential”.

The ministry added that it will seek to deploy pilot projects that “take advantage of existing infrastructure”, while also creating a “mechanism and legal corridor for businesses that produce and use fossil energy to actively convert to producing and using hydrogen energy… [including] regulations to decide investment policies for offshore wind power projects, hydrogen/ammonia production and export projects using renewable energy (solar power, offshore wind power…)”.

Preferential mechanisms and policies on taxes, fees and land rights will also be developed to attract investment into the sector.

Yesterday (Thursday), industry and trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien chaired an in-person and online conference to discuss the new hydrogen strategy with other ministries, local authorities, Communist Party branches, trade associations, corporations, state energy enterprises and international development agencies, including USAID and Germany’s GIZ.

The Communist government, which is aiming to reach net zero emissions by 2050, has assigned tasks to “ministries, branches and localities” to deploy the hydrogen strategy, including adjusting provincial plans, proposing policies to encourage the use of H2 fuel for vehicles, and increasing the “mobilisation of domestic and foreign capital sources”.
(Copyright)
Published 23 February 2024, 11:39Updated 23 February 2024, 11:45