Australian-German Energy Partnership

With 2030 approaching quickly, it is crucial that some of the most polluting sectors, including the industry, transport, and building sectors, reduce their emissions. The Australia-Germany Energy Partnership contributed to advancing this target in both countries through activities focusing on energy efficiency and hydrogen. 

Deepened Cooperation on Hydrogen 

Germany’s revised hydrogen strategy emphasized again the importance of hydrogen for decarbonizing the German economy and the need for imports. As one of the global frontrunners and prospective major hydrogen producer, Australia is a key partner in this regard. This is expressed in the bilateral Hydrogen Accord of 2021 that the Partnership continued to support. 

Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen kicked off a busy year with hydrogen delegations, in-person meetings and virtual events with his visit to Berlin in January. BMWK officials Franziska Brantner and Christian Maaß used their trips to meet stakeholders and discuss topics such as finance and supply chains. In May, a delegation of Australian stakeholders from governments and industry travelled throughout Germany to visit different sites and organisations. Later in the year, BMWK partnered with the APAC Hydrogen Summit in Sydney and hosted stakeholders in an exclusive evening event. 

Those visits, together with many additional activities, enabled knowledge sharing and a mutual understanding of hurdles that need to be addressed to support the nascent industry and potential trade. Governments obtained relevant insights that feed into the development of policy documents, including Germany’s import strategy, Australia’s revised hydrogen strategy (to be published), and state-level regulations. In addition, businesses are made aware of developments and opportunities in the partner country.  

Mitigating Emissions in Industry and Buildings 

Industrial decarbonisation was another priority and a German delegation visited Sydney in May to kick-off the collaboration. During this visit, it became clear that Australian policymakers could benefit from insights on Germany's expertise in energy management systems and efficiency networks, prompting immediate information sharing. Director-General Maaß also provided timely insights into advances and setbacks of the transition in the German heating sector in July, that representatives from state governments were particularly interested in. Meanwhile, the work on transferring learnings from a best-practice Australian programme to lower commercial building emissions were underway in Germany, led by the German Business Initiative on Energy Efficiency. 

Outlook 

A major milestone in 2024 will be the establishment of the Energy and Climate Partnership and the resulting expansion of topical scope. Hydrogen and the implementation of the bilateral Hydrogen Accord will remain central. A report on cooperation potential in industrial decarbonisation will outline how work will go forward in this area.