ECOWAS Green Hydrogen Program

1. CONTEXT / BACKGROUND

Globally, efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change has never been more urgent, with countries setting their Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies. While these commitments are largely driven by the increased use of renewable resources, global decarbonization objectives are incomplete without solutions to mitigate the carbon emissions from the ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors such as industries and transportation.
This is one of the concerns for which ECOWAS has updated its Regional Energy Policy. This has made it possible to integrate changes in the international context but also in the regional context marked by significant economic, social, political, and technological changes, to converge towards an integrated, fair, and sustainable energy development. To this end, the Policy places particular emphasis on the need to promote clean forms of energy, particularly Hydrogen.
Clean hydrogen is recognized as an energy source capable of decarbonizing the industrial, transport, agricultural and power sectors. For this reason, it has been the subject of growing interest from the international community in recent years. Within this context, ECREEE with the support of WASCAL is developing since October 2020 a Green Hydrogen Program.

2. MAIN ACTIVITIES & IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH

The ECOWAS Green Hydrogen Program is developed with the strategic vision of positioning the region as one of the most competitive producers and suppliers of green hydrogen and its derivatives while addressing socio-economic growth and sustainable development of all member states. To this extent, objectives of the framework are identified:
a. Promote the development of an enabling and facilitating environment for establishment of green hydrogen.

• Undertake demonstration projects within the regions.
• Develop strategic long-term roadmap for development of green hydrogen consumption within the region.
• Promote investments in supporting infrastructure required for green hydrogen investments.
• Establish strategic partnerships for investments, technology supply and financing.

ECREEE adopted a participatory implementation approach involving the fifteen (15) ECOWAS Member States, the ECOWAS Commission Directorate of Energy and Mines, the West African Power Pool (WAPP), the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA), West African Gas Pipeline Authority (WAGPA), the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).

3. ACHIEVED OUTPUTS (If the project is ongoing)

ECREEE, in collaboration with the WASCAL, developed the ECOWAS Green Hydrogen Policy and Strategy Framework, which was adopted by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers on July 7, 2023, in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. Beyond this, ECOWAS Energy Ministers have endorsed the Green Hydrogen Regional Strategy and Action Plans for 2023-2030 and 2031-2050 after its validation by stakeholders. This will ensure that the policy objectives are translated into concrete actions at regional and national levels.