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It is with great pleasure that I have accepted the invitation to participate in today's workshop on "Green Hydrogen in Cyprus", co-organised by the Cyprus Hydrogen Association, Hydrogen Europe and the Federation of Employers and Industrialists.
As we all know, the challenges we face due to climate change and the increasingly urgent need to transition to green energy and achieve the goal of a climate neutral Europe by 2050, require coordination and immediate and targeted actions both at national and global level.
At the same time, the war in Ukraine has brought about significant changes in the European Union's energy market, causing price volatility and problems in security of supply, with serious implications for the Union's energy system. In this context, we are implementing policies to promote the use of Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Saving measures, the electrical interconnection of Cyprus with neighbouring countries and the arrival on our island of natural gas, a less polluting fuel, for electricity generation purposes.
In particular, the Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry, in close cooperation of course with other competent Ministries, as well as with state and private entities, has intensified the work done for a substantial revision of our energy strategy, taking into account the new geopolitical data of the region and our peculiarities as an isolated energy system. Our main tool in this context is our National Energy and Climate Plan for the period up to 2030, which essentially sets the basis for achieving the goal of climate neutrality by 2050.
Cyprus' National Energy and Climate Plan analyses the five dimensions defined by the European Union through its energy policy, and sets out our national targets for 2030, as well as the combination of policies and measures required for their fulfilment.
Cyprus' National Energy and Climate Plan analyses the five dimensions defined by the European Union through its energy policy, and sets out our national targets for 2030, as well as the combination of policies and measures required for their fulfilment. The draft of our revised National Plan, which has been put out for public consultation and sent to the European Commission for comments in July, sets out, among other things, the role that hydrogen could play as a fuel and energy source for our transition to a green economy.
Dear participants,
As the President of the European Commission mentioned in her speech at the end of last year, the EU's energy priorities include the promotion of renewable energy and hydrogen, which is expected to play an important role in the EU's energy priorities in order to achieve the goal of climate neutrality.
In addition, the European Hydrogen Strategy sets a target of producing up to 10 million metric tonnes of renewable hydrogen in the EU by 2030. Through the REPowerEU plan, this target has even been doubled and it is proposed to be achieved by facilitating the import of an additional 10 million metric tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030.
In order to develop Cyprus' National Hydrogen Strategy and to introduce hydrogen into our energy mix, the Ministry of Energy received, in May 2022, technical support from the European Commission for the preparation of a study. This study was completed in February 2023 and is now available on the Department of Energy's website. It presents various ways to introduce hydrogen into the energy mix of Cyprus, taking into account both the specificities of our country and the support we are foreseen to receive, e.g. in related projects and infrastructure, through the EU strategy and the RepowerEU project.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In order to facilitate Cyprus' transition to a green economy, the National Governance System for the Green Deal has been established, through which our progress on all horizontal issues is monitored and any corrective measures required are determined. Within this System, a Technical Committee on Hydrogen has been established, chaired by the Department of Energy of our Ministry. Part of the Committee's work, which is expected to be completed within the next few months, concerns precisely the determination of the exact role that hydrogen can play in the Cypriot market.
In particular, it is being considered whether the production of green hydrogen, which is produced by the electrolysis of water from electricity generated by renewable energy sources, could be a key to the further promotion of Renewable Energy Sources in Cyprus. Green hydrogen can have a range of uses in industries such as, for example, in cement production. It can also be used in electricity generation, as well as a fuel for road transport, shipping and aviation.
In any case, I am pleased to report that we have already been approached by several companies with proposals for pilot projects for the production of hydrogen from Renewable Energy Sources, mainly through solar energy, which are currently in various stages of evaluation and implementation. In addition, we are actively working to promote mutually beneficial cooperation with the European Commission and neighbouring countries for possible hydrogen production and use, issues which, of course, member countries are already discussing as a priority in the context of the work done in the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum, perhaps better known as the EMGF.
Thank you all for your attention and I wish everyone every success in today's workshop and a constructive exchange of views.
(GA)
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