We start the day with a quick introduction by our moderator, and thanking our hosting partners for helping us organize such a grand get-together.

40% of the global hydrogen market is in China’s domestic production and consumption, the IRA is putting pressure on European competitiveness, and the invasion of Ukraine threw Europe into a costly and complex energy crisis in the middle of its transition. Where does Europe stand now in the global markets, what does its future look like, and how can we regain a leading role in the energy markets and as competitive renewable energy producers? This presentation sets out the European situation in energy, and starts the questions on what we all need to do to improve it.

With the recent Oostende agreement and the NSEC, the invited European countries have stated ambitious renewable energy generation goals in the North-Sea. Now we give them the opportunity to put it in practical terms, debate how these goals are best achieved, and how these governments can help you to contribute to their goals. Despite all their cooperation, national rules for hydrogen, renewable energy, and CCS still differ. How can these governments improve legislation to streamline cross-border operation and value-chains?

The main goal of the hydrogen transition is to reduce CO2 emissions in Europe, but that does not mean we have the capacity to only switch to green hydrogen, nor are some industries yet capable of cutting production emissions entirely. CCS and CCU provide answers to both sectors.

In this session, we talk about the industrial economics of transitioning to hydrogen, when, for who, and where CCUS can be employed, transitioning conventional energy platforms to reduce their emissions or fulfil a role in the hydrogen chain, and the role of blue hydrogen in the energy system. With these tools at our disposal, Europe is set to become the first carbon-neutral continent!
Per Olof Granström, Owner, Energy Climate Solution

The value chain of hydrogen does not start at the electrolyzer or SMR, but rather all the way back at the engineers and steel manufacturers that provide the technology and material for their assembly and that of its feeding windmills and gas platforms. In this session, we look at the importance of scaling the prerequired industries, such as manufacturing, engineering, and maritime construction, for realizing the transition on time.

For a quick transition, all parts need to move parallel to each other. Our panellists discuss how far back or forwards along the chain supportive policy should go to promote development to make sure one link does not drag down the whole chain.

What other factors are needed to scale the chain? Is storage the key to success or the costly prerequisite for a robust system? Can the industry be built modularly to allow growth with technology or are the scale advantages found in custom-designed facilities?

(Moderated by: Per-Olof Granström, CEO Energy Climate Solutions)

Infrastructure is the base of any attempt at creating a hydrogen economy and hybrid energy system, yet we are running into capacity issues for electricity and have little realized hydrogen pipeline in our backbones. Connection between facilities and industrial clusters is needed to scale and make the use of hydrogen secure, flexible, and ubiquitous.

In this session, we discuss how to realize international infrastructure, its spatial planning, rules of international development and operation of multinational projects, and the role of ports, maritime sector, and industrial clusters, to develop the most efficient web and/or hub-and-spoke that serves the needs of everyone in the region:

• Hans Coenen, Member of the Executive Board, Gasunie

Continuing the topic, we now open the floor to economic experts from institutes and consultancies throughout the region, to debate what the main hurdles and benefits there are to coordination, and which can be overcome by it.

To do so, we all need to have the same timeline in mind. The experts will discuss market development and the different possible scenarios to give you the best timeframe for investing parallel with the industry.

• Florian Sayer, Head of Energy, Fraunhofer Institute
• Prajeev Rasiah, Executive VP & Regional Director Energy Systems – Northern Europe, DNV
• Rene Peters, Business Director Gas Technology, TNO

Now it is your turn to be a leader and work together with others. Divided into 5 topics, you will find discuss your problems and successes in your operations to find new possibilities for deals and coordinate projects with others at the table, under the guidance of an expert in the field. The groups cover a wide range of subjects, from infrastructure to climate goals.

A: Infastructure

B: Spatial planning and environmental policy
Moderated by: Elisabet Babic, Vice-President North-Sea Commission and 1^st Vice-Chair Growth Committee Halland, Sweden

C: CCS & blue hydrogen
Moderated by: Joop Hazenberg, Secretary General, Zero Emissions Platform

D: Production Technologies

E: Imports
Moderated by: Magnolia Tovar, Global Director Zero-Carbon Fuels, Clean Air Task Force

Not all projects just need like-minded people from the same sector, sometimes it is a question of proximity, that determines usefulness to one another. Here we divided the region into roughly 5 ‘streams’ of hydrogen between countries, called corridors. This way we are all forced to think regionally with potential partners for an infrastructure project, an off-taker of your hydrogen, or a provider of CCS for your production.

Each corridor will be moderated by an important figure from the respective area, with the 5^th corridor being the truly international ‘middle’ of the North-Sea, where multinational investment and infrastructure is needed for efficient transportation and production, with the pinnacle being the new energy islands!

A: Northernmost corridor (United Kingdom <- -> Norway)
Moderated by: Vegard Frihammer, Chairman Norsk Hydrogenforum and CEO/Founder Greenstat

B: Danish straits corridor (Norway <- -> Denmark <- -> Germany)

C: Benelux corridor (Germany <- -> The Netherlands <- -> Belgium)
Moderated by: Bas Pulles, Project Directeur Delta Rhine Corridor, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (NL)

D: Channel crossing corridor (The Netherlands/Belgium <- -> UK)
Moderated by: An Stroobandt, Deputy-Chief of Cabinet, Ministry of Energy Belgium

E: Common North Sea production and storage area (far off coast sites and energy islands in central North Sea)Moderated by: Mogens Hagelskær, Deputy Director General, Danish Energy Agency

To add that last bit of leadership and inspiration to your take-away of this programme, an influential figure will reiterate the importance of the hydrogen transition for Europe, and why it must happen today, not tomorrow.

Speaker winner Hydrogen Leadership Award