71 billion NOK in increased economic growth (GDP) and 33,000 new jobs.
An emission reduction of 22 million tons of CO2 in Norway and Europe.
All by 2030.
In short, that is what a fresh-out-of-the-oven McKinsey report estimates the hydrogen industry could contribute with to the Norwegian economy in 2030.
With the global shift towards a greener future, Norway must act now to create the leading industries that will ensure the wealth of the coming generations and a more sustainable path.
With a geopolitical pole position, Norway has the possibility to become the world’s leading nation for the production and export of hydrogen and hydrogen technology in the years to come, according to the report.
We’ll take that one again: The leading hydrogen nation in the world.
But only if the Norwegian potential is utilised to the fullest, the report stresses. And only if the Norwegian decision makers start making the correct and wise decisions already today. And only because several Norwegian companies are already market leaders in the hydrogen industry, as McKinsey pinpoints – pointing to NEL as technology market leaders within electrolysis.
“From our point of view there is a need for Norway to set higher and more concrete ambitions and make decisions faster than we do today,” Frithjof Lund, head of McKinsey in Norway, says to Norwegian media outlet NRK, while also underlining the need for clearer strategies if Norway is to be at the forefront of the hydrogen race.
Where do we go from here?
In the independent report, the consultancy agency points to a total of 10 Norwegian future industries that could evolve into becoming the answer to the all-important question: What are we going to live from tomorrow?
Hydrogen is highlighted as being amongst the most profitable and job creating alternatives to the oil and gas industry in the years to come. Because the industry can be built on the foundations of the oil and gas adventure. Because Norway has lengthy experience when it comes to industrial hydrogen production. And because Norway has both the technological expertise and the infrastructure to handle it.
Hydrogen will, McKinsey predicts, become one of the most important answers to the climate and energy crisis as it is expected to cover 22 per cent of peoples’ energy needs and around 20 per cent of the world’s decarbonisation needs in 2050.
According to the report, citing the Hydrogen Council, the hydrogen market could grow to an astonishing 25.000 billion NOK in 2050.
“Maybe it has never been more important to make the right decisions. The climate crisis is changing the world, and the energy nation Norway has to change with it.”
– McKinsey
It is time for something new, McKinsey says. In Norway and in the world.
And the green wave of sustainability that is washing over us paves the way for Norway to become a global lighthouse and pioneer for sustainable development in a future based very much on hydrogen. In fact, the report concludes, it is quite possible that Norway have never been in a better position to form the future.
“Maybe it has never been more important to make the right decisions. The climate crisis is changing the world, and the energy nation Norway has to change with it,” the report states.
Want to read more about the Norwegian hydrogen adventure and how McKinsey sees it unfolded specifically? Read the full report here.
