At the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, Nils Røkke from SINTEF contributed to discussions on how these regions can collaborate to address these barriers and unlock clean hydrogen’s potential in meeting our climate goals.
Why is hydrogen so important in the energy transition?
Hydrogen is a powerful and versatile energy carrier that produces zero emissions at the point of use. As such, it has significant potential to decarbonise sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as deep-sea shipping and energy-intensive industries.
However, there can be emissions associated with its production. Currently, most hydrogen is produced from natural gas (known as “grey hydrogen”), a process that is responsible for approximately 1 gigatonne of CO2 emissions per year globally. This translates to roughly 10 kg CO2 emitted for every kg of hydrogen produced.
For hydrogen to be considered “clean”, it must be produced either from natural gas with the associated CO2 emissions captured and stored (“blue hydrogen”) or from renewable energy via electrolysis (“green hydrogen”).
Beyond replacing fossil fuels, hydrogen can also serve as a form of energy storage to help balance electricity grids with high shares of variable renewable energy, such as solar and wind. This application will be particularly valuable in the coming years.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s 2025 Global Hydrogen Review 2025, approximately 4 MT of low-carbon hydrogen are guaranteed to be produced by 2030, with a fair likelihood of 10 MT in total. This would replace one tenth of the grey hydrogen produced today and increase capacity.
“There is no doubt that more clean hydrogen is needed, but we must do both: replace grey production and increase the capacity of green and blue hydrogen,” said Nils.
Poles apart yet aligned in potential
Both Nordic and South American countries benefit from significant renewable energy resources and largely decarbonised domestic energy mixes, which provide favourable conditions for green hydrogen production. In addition, oil and gas operations in the North Sea and South Atlantic could be repurposed to provide the necessary CO2 storage capacity to support blue hydrogen value chains.
However, despite this potential, progress remains slow.
The Nordics have 167 clean hydrogen projects under development, with a total future production capacity of eight million tonnes per year. By 2024, only a fraction of this capacity had been realised, with 0.2% in operation and a further 1% under construction.
Similarly, projects announced in Latin America and the Caribbean have the combined potential to produce over seven million tonnes of clean hydrogen annually by 2030. As of 2024, only 0.1% of these projects had advanced to operation, construction or a final investment decision.
Increasing development requires both regions to overcome similar challenges: high costs, uncertainty in markets, and a mismatch between clean hydrogen production and demand.
At COP30 in Belém, SINTEF’s Executive Vice President for Sustainability, Nils Røkke, joined a panel event organised by Nordic Energy Research and moderated by CEO Klaus Skytte, on how Nordic-South American collaboration can address these challenges.
The main focus? Transregional hydrogen valleys.
Could a transatlantic hydrogen valley support the creation of a global clean hydrogen market?
Hydrogen valleys bring together actors from research, industry and the public sector, with the aim of establishing local, full-scale value chains for clean hydrogen through collaboration between industry, research and the public sector.
While the initiative originated in the European Union, its implementation is global, with 66 valleys currently under development in Europe, 10 in the Americas, five in Asia and three in the Middle East and Africa.
In 2023, SINTEF took a leading role in the “Hydrogen Valley Mid-Norway” project, which has since evolved into NORHyWAY, led by the Renewable Energy Cluster (RENERGY) with 18 partners, including SINTEF. The initiative consists of five use cases for blue and green hydrogen production across a range of industrial applications.
Hydrogen valleys enable clean hydrogen value chains to develop holistically, aligning supply directly with demand, rather than focusing on each part in isolation. Scaling up this concept to a cross-border, or even transatlantic, level could provide similar benefits on a much larger scale and support the creation of a global market for clean hydrogen.
“Hydrogen valleys are a means of connecting research to industry and political initiatives, which gives us an opportunity for success,” said Nils. “Once we have established local value chains, hydrogen valleys have to multiply and expand until we achieve the hydrogen economy.”
Transatlantic collaboration on hydrogen is already underway
However, hydrogen valleys are by no means the only form of collaboration that could happen between these two regions.
In 2024, Norway and Brazil signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a “green shipping corridor” between the two countries, which would involve establishing routes for ships employing zero- or low-emission technologies. This initiative stems from discussions that took place at COP26 in 2021 in Glasgow. Potential solutions are due to be presented by Norway and Brazil over the course of COP30.
Hydrogen, as well as ammonia, are among the options being explored for decarbonising maritime transport. These applications are focus areas of HYDROGENi, a Centre for Environment-friendly Energy Research on hydrogen and ammonia, coordinated by SINTEF.
Actions speak louder than words
In the hydrogen chapter of SINTEF and NTNU’s research-based advice for COP30, one key recommendation was to “strengthen cooperation with countries seeking rapid hydrogen implementation through bilateral trade agreements combined with research and technology exchange on a technology-neutral basis”.
Regional collaboration holds significant promise, yet real progress depends on moving from plans to implementation. In his speech at the opening of the high-level segment at COP30, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell acknowledged the importance of climate collaboration, but emphasised the urgent need for action to follow these intentions:
“We absolutely cannot afford to waste time on tactical delays or stone-walling. The time for performative diplomacy has now passed. Now’s the time to roll up our sleeves, come together, and get the job done.”
Reflecting on the panel discussion in Belém, Nils echoed this sentiment:
“The panel agreed that the Nordics could take the lead in using hydrogen and its derivatives where it matters and set the pace for Europe. It’s a great idea – so why don’t we get going?”
