Dr. Stefan Kaufmann:

I thank the committee for its friendly invitation. Many greetings from Cape Town. Here it is 30°C and, as Members may see, there is a black-and-white photograph behind me, so the committee has an impression of the weather here but without the sun. I thank the committee for the opportunity to make this statement to it. It is a pleasure to connect with my associates in Ireland again on the very important topic of hydrogen.

As part of my role as innovation commissioner for green hydrogen at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, I meet with prospective partner countries to discuss potential co-operation in the field of green hydrogen. This is because my country, as the committee will know, remains an energy importer and will be dependent on the import of renewable energies in the future.

In October 2021 my team and I visited Ireland. The German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce organised an intensive meeting schedule over the course of two days in order that we could better understand Ireland's potential for hydrogen production and export to Germany. On that occasion we had the opportunity to meet with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and his team; leading academics on the topic of hydrogen, including Dr. James Carton, who I believe is with the committee today; utility companies Bord na Móna and the ESB; and a number of other companies with interest in the field such as Dublin Bus, BOC-Linde, Wind Energy Ireland, the Sustainable Energy Authority Of Ireland, SEAI, the Industrial Development Authority, IDA, and Ireland's energy regulator. Seeing first-hand the experience Ireland has gained from the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel was of great interest to us. While visiting BOC-Linde's offices, we got to see the refuelling of one of Dublin Bus's three hydrogen fuel cell electric double-decker buses now running in the greater Dublin area.

What was clear during our visit is that Ireland has the potential to be a significant player in the world of hydrogen. We learned about the wind resources off the Atlantic coast in particular, potentially reaching up to 70 GW of wind power. We also met with hydrogen project developers such as Valentia Island Energy and EIH2, which presented their proposed plans for hydrogen production off the south coast.

German-Irish co-operation on energy dates back almost 100 years. While in Limerick for a meeting with the ESB, we visited the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power plant, on the River Shannon, Ireland's first power plant. A great example of German-Irish co-operation in this field, it was built in partnership with German engineers, and the Siemens turbines installed there are still in operation today. It is my belief that hydrogen could herald a new era of German-Irish partnership in the energy sector. We were delighted that, following our visit to Ireland, the German-Irish Hydrogen Council was formed because it gives us a focal point to continue discussions with Ireland about hydrogen. We discussed with the council areas of research that would be of mutual interest to Germany and Ireland and welcomed the response we got.

As an island nation, one of Ireland's greatest challenges is delivering the excess hydrogen it will produce to markets in mainland Europe. My department is preparing a proposal to conceptualise a pilot project in partnership with Ireland to show the feasibility of delivering Irish green hydrogen from Ireland's producers to German ports or the European mainland. We feel that this proposal could become the initial step in forming a deeper and ongoing relationship with Ireland in the field of green hydrogen.

I once again thank the committee for the opportunity to participate today. I wish the committee a very successful and productive meeting. Please excuse me, Chairman, if I leave a little early. I wish the committee all success and hope for a really good partnership between Germany and Ireland in green hydrogen and other topics.