Norway’s plan to invest US$384.5m as a green transition package is likely to aid the country on economic and environmental fronts. The environmental support would allow the country to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement target of limiting global temperature rise to less than two degrees by 2050. Alternatively, the economic thrust would help the country stimulate the economy that has likely been stagnated during the pandemic, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Somik Das, Senior Power Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The package’s objective is to bolster the green transition and use this as a mechanism to stimulate economic activities beyond the pandemic. Implementing the hydrogen strategy would likely help in decarbonizing the economy and improve Norway’s ability to reach its climate goals”.

“Countries worldwide strive to accelerate the development and use of hydrogen technology to tackle environmental concerns and enhance energy security. While hydrogen can be produced through carbon capture and storage technologies, these processes emit more emissions and cannot be considered clean.

“However, formulating a cost-effective and well-regulated transition will be a complex issue for the Norwegian government as the cost of producing hydrogen from renewable energy sources is currently expensive. To achieve the environmental target within the deadline, the government would need to increase the number of hydrogen pilot and demonstration projects to scale up to reduce costs; and expand hydrogen use to new sectoral applications.”