Regulatory drivers

Assesses the strength of regulatory drivers behind hydrogen activity, in the form of direct and indirect support to kick start hydrogen investments across the value chain.

Government funding & procurement

As in the early days of solar PV where projects are still economically unviable, government subsidy and procurement schemes are instrumental in catalysing private investments. Scoring evaluates:

• Targeted funding for hydrogen in national budgets, economic recovery plans and other schemes.

• Technology-neutral funding for renewables

• Government-led project procurement

Carbon pricing

A strong and predictably escalating carbon price supports directly the economics of hydrogen investments and incentivizes long-term business planning. Scoring evaluates:

• Average carbon price in 2020

• Scope of GHG emissions covered by carbon pricing schemes

Carbon borders

Effective carbon borders allow: long-term decarbonization investments for businesses in jurisdictions with a carbon price regime. Scoring evaluates:

• Progress to date in carbon borders implementation

Net zero target

A forward-looking metric that assumes countries with net zero targets will implement necessary mechanisms to achieve these in the future (e.g., strong carbon pricing) even if these are not in place today. Scoring evaluates:

• Strength of commitment (legislated or government announcement)

• Ambitiousness of target (e.g., timeline to net zero)

National hydrogen strategy

A forward-looking metric that assumes countries will put in place funding and frameworks to achieve the stated targets in their hydrogen strategies/roadmaps, even if these are not in place today. Scoring evaluates:

• Scale of hydrogen targets

• Quality of implementation roadmap

Pipeline projects

A measure of interest and activity on the ground from local and international businesses, as well as government-led initiatives. Scoring evaluates:

• Scale of announced projects

• Development progress to date

• Stated timeline to realisation