Hydrogen project risks challenge investors

Flow of money into emerging industry faces bottlenecks as investors grapple with uncertainty over regulation and bankability

Concerns over bankability, regulation and project deployment risks are holding back some investors from the hydrogen sector despite its long-term growth potential as a key plank of the energy transition, according to participants in a Transition Economist roundtable on alternative fuels, held in association with PwC. Corporate and institutional investors are treading carefully as they weigh up risks relating to evolving regulation, the need for bankable long-term offtake deals and the possibility that hydrogen production assets could become stranded because of a lack of midstream distribution infrastructure. “Is there a role for government to play the offtaker of last resort?” Anderson