Germany’s Hydrogen Strategy: Securing Industrial Leadership in a Carbon–Neutral Economy

This chapter provides a review of Germany’s import-oriented hydrogen strategy. It places the German policy approach in the context of its broader energy transition strategy, aimed not only at a transition of Germany’s energy and industrial system to carbon neutrality by 2045 but also at the promotion of the German Energiewende approach abroad. The chapter begins by providing a short review of the German Energiewende policy legacy, relating it to it emerging hydrogen policy. On this basis, it provides a comprehensive review of Germany’s national hydrogen strategy with a particular focus on its outward-oriented elements. The chapter closes with discussion of key strengths and weaknesses and the broader geopolitical and geoeconomic implications of the strategy.