Luleå roundtable session.

Luleå roundtable session on the regional aspects of innovation for sustainability.

The Luleå welcome mingle.

A group picture of the participants at the visit to the HYBRIT test plant.

The future? A piece of solid fossil free HYBRIT steel.

A guided tour of the HYBRIT test plant's two Nel Hydrogen on site electrolyzers.

The visiting group is given a presentation on the technical and operational specifics of the HYBRIT test plant.

The HYBRIT presentation.

Between the 21st and 23rd of November 2021, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's Nordic Countries project hosted a series of roundtable discussions in Luleå, Sweden, on the transformation of industry towards a low-carbon future, focusing on the role of green hydrogen. The roundtable discussion was part of the KAS Nordics project “Innovation for Sustainable Development in the Nordics”.

Representatives from Germany, Norway, Finland, and Sweden working in politics, industry and academia were invited to the event. The goal of the roundtable discussions was to explore challenges and innovation potential for the sustainable development of a green hydrogen economy.
During the discussions the following topics were covered:
› Policy challenges and Innovation in accelerating the transition towards a green hydrogen economy.
› The economic viability of a green hydrogen economy and how to scale up the implementation of a green hydrogen economy in Europe.
› Regional development aspects of the transition towards a green hydrogen economy.

We have summarized the results of the talks in this report to provide insight into the thoughts and ideas raised during the discussion series, as well as to stimulate future discussion on the topics covered. We have concentrated on the questions that were raised, the obstacles that were explored, and the innovative solutions that were proposed.

In summary, among the most significant obstacles repeatedly raised was a looming electrolyser production bottleneck, several limitations related to the current EU hydrogen strategy, challenges related to the rapid building up of renewable energy sources along the northeastern coast of Sweden, and the risk of national and EU regulation hindering necessary future hydrogen-related innovation.

Authors:
Leonie Schiedek, Project coordinator, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Nordic Countries Regional Programme
Richard Forsén, Project coordinator and Research Associate, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Nordic Countries Regional Programme