Danish Strategy for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells - HY-CO Home

• to establish and maintain the general idea of Danish R&D activities in the
field including Danish participation in international projects;
• to assess the need for education of both researchers (PhDs and industrial
PhDs) and graduates;
• to assess Danish results in the light of international results in the field;
• to coordinate activities with those of other relevant fields of technology
and to promote the contact with relevant Danish environments and
international platforms;
• to inform both people in the field and the public in general of hydrogen
technology development and its future potential by publishing newsletters
and articles in scientific journals, organising seminars and workshops as
well as technical study tours;
• to create an efficient framework for evaluation of the results of the efforts
(after five years as a maximum).
Costs
When assessing future costs, it is beneficial to take into account that hydrogen and
fuel cells are inter-related, as the development of hydrogen technology to a large
extent will be kicked off by the development of fuel cells.
In order to make significant technological progress, as described in this strategy, it
is estimated that the public sector – in addition to the basic funding of the
universities, etc. – will need to allocate around DKK 1.5–2.0 billion over a 10-
year period to R&D and demonstration of hydrogen and fuel cell projects.
The estimate of potential costs has been prepared by a number of players in the
field of hydrogen and fuel cell technology. The estimate is based on an evaluation
of past investments and the expectations to the activities in the fuel cell
technology field in coming years. It also takes into account the requirement for
initiating a similar long-term development in hydrogen technology 15 .
A scenario involving a distribution of costs on various investment areas is shown
in the figure below. The scenario points to fuel cells as the main investment area,
and the figure indicates an immediate increase in funds for demonstrations. The
investment in hydrogen technology increases over time. About half of the total
Danish investment is expected to be allocated to demonstration purposes.
A considerable amount of research and/or development is needed before funding
can be obtained for the demonstration of new technologies. Demonstration
15 Over the past 15 years or so, extensive research has been carried out in the fuel cell
technology field. The total annual Danish investment in 2004 is estimated at around DKK
130 million, of which approximately DKK 60 million represent public funding. Players
within the development environment estimate that the total amount invested will have to
be increased over the next couple of years. The need will continue to grow as the number
of final demonstrations increases, before the market can eventually take over.
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