ASTANA—While Kazakhstan’s potential for renewable energy remains substantial, developing green hydrogen might not be an easy endeavor. Manuel Andresh, the head of the Hydrogen Diplomacy Office in Astana, spoke to The Astana Times about the role hydrogen plays in the global energy transition, challenges in scaling up this energy source, and Kazakhstan’s potential to develop green hydrogen.
Manuel Andresh, head of the Hydrogen Diplomacy Office, which was launched in 2023. Photo credit: The Astana Times
Launched in 2023, the Hydrogen Diplomacy Office is part of a broader initiative led by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.
What does the office do?
According to Andresh, the Hydrogen Diplomacy Office aims to “strengthen the ties between Kazakhstan and Germany in the field of green hydrogen, do capacity development and contribute to decarbonization.” He highlighted their collaboration with government, academia, and industry to boost awareness of both opportunities and risks associated with green hydrogen transition.
The office, announced during German Foreign Minister Anna Baerbock’s visit to Astana two years ago, organized a series of local and regional dialogue events, study tours to Germany, and seminars in Astana to enhance the understanding of green hydrogen for policymakers and industry professionals. These efforts include technical studies such as a recent assessment of transport options for exporting green hydrogen from Kazakhstan to Europe and an ongoing regional study exploring cooperation potential across Central Asia.
Assel Satubaldina and Manuel Andresh during the interview. Photo credit: The Astana Times
“We want to better understand the cooperation potential in Central Asia in the topic of green hydrogen, connect the potential of the different countries, to work together with Germany and EU on this topic,” said Andresh in a YouTube interview.
“We believe that regional cooperation has a very high value,” he added, mentioning recent forums that involved Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, along with training seminars for university professors to further integrate green hydrogen into academic curricula across the region.
Andresh noted the office is also working with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources to assess the role of green hydrogen in meeting the country’s climate goals, particularly through its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
“We also need to understand that it [green hydrogen] is not just an energy carrier for export, but it is also highly relevant for the whole Kazakh industry and energy system,” he said.
In June, the office also launched a development program for hydrogen to help Kazakh companies transition from fossil fuel-based hydrogen to green hydrogen. “We offer companies free technical and financial analysis to guide them through this transition,” the representative said, emphasizing the importance of identifying financial mechanisms to support this shift.
“We have, firstly, a market analysis of the potential of green hydrogen in the country. Then we talked to the companies with high potential and offered them free technical and financial analysis on how they can do this transition towards green hydrogen and also support [them] with identifying funds, financial mechanisms that are relevant for this whole process,” Andresh explained.
Green hydrogen opportunities in Kazakhstan
According to Andresh, green hydrogen plays a limited role in the Kazakh industry, with applications mostly confined to refineries and fertilizer production. “It does have much more potential,” said Andresh, explaining that green hydrogen could be a key solution for so-called hard-to-abate sectors—industries where technological alternatives to decarbonize are not readily available.
For green hydrogen to reach its full potential in Kazakhstan, there needs to be increased awareness and knowledge, financial support, and a solid government framework to drive the transition.
“Kazakhstan is clearly planning to become carbon neutral by 2060. Companies are looking at ways to decarbonize their production and reduce their emissions. Some have already realized that green hydrogen might be the way for their production processes to actually engage into this whole decarbonization,” he said.
This year, the Kazakh government developed a green hydrogen development concept until 2040, which outlines the country’s vision of hydrogen energy development and basic principles and approaches.
According to Andresh, as international regulations, including the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, come into play, Kazakh companies will face increased incentives to transition toward greener production methods. “It is rather a question of timing—when to engage in this process,” he added.
Kazakhstan’s competitive advantages
Kazakhstan holds a competitive edge in green hydrogen production due to its vast renewable energy potential, particularly in wind and solar power. This makes it more economically viable than other countries such as Germany.
Andresh said green hydrogen development is “much more economically attractive” in Kazakhstan.
“The capacity factor for onshore wind energy in Kazakhstan can be as high as offshore wind in other regions, which is much higher,” he said. “There is also the space available to build up these capacities for renewable energy. This, overall, gives a huge and strong foundation to produce green hydrogen, not just sustainably, but also in an economically favorable way.”
The ability to combine wind and solar power, as projects such as Hyrasia One in the Mangystau Region are planning, further enhances the country’s potential. In 2021, German-Swedish company Sveving Energy announced its plans for a 50 billion euro (US$55 billion) green hydrogen project in the Mangystau Region in the west of the country. In October 2022, the Kazakh government and the company signed an investment agreement. It envisions a wind-solar-hydrogen plant that will produce up to two million tons of green hydrogen or 11 million tons of green ammonia per year.
Andresh also emphasized that Kazakhstan’s strategic location between Europe and Asia provides access to multiple export markets. He believes that with its long-standing involvement in the international energy market, Kazakhstan has the experience, contacts, and infrastructure in place, some of which could be adapted for green hydrogen transportation.
“I think Kazakhstan can really pivot towards becoming a green energy exporter and has a huge potential to do so in the future,” said Andresh.
Challenges in tapping into hydrogen
A recent study that the office conducted on the transport options for green hydrogen from Kazakhstan to Europe has shown that, while not without challenges, green hydrogen transportation from Kazakhstan remains a feasible option.
“We had a techno-economic analysis, and economically, it is quite competitive [for Kazakhstan] compared to other big exporting countries,” he added. However, infrastructure development is key to making this a reality.
One of the main routes under consideration is the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. Andresh said port infrastructure, such as the Kuryk port on the Caspian Sea shore, is being developed to accommodate green hydrogen transport via tanker ships.
Another potential option is using pipelines through the Caspian Sea or ferries and train systems to transport hydrogen in the form of ammonia.
“Overall, I do believe that pipelines are the most economically favorable one. Regarding flexibility, it really decreases the options in the future. Shipping will cost a little bit more with tanker ships, but it gives much more flexibility on where to transport it,” he explained.
For the pipeline option to be viable, a high volume of green hydrogen would be required to fill the pipeline, which may take time to reach.
When asked how other countries address green hydrogen transportation, Andresh mentioned the European Hydrogen Backbone, a pipeline network aimed at connecting hydrogen production across the continent. “The idea is to use the best locations for green hydrogen production and share green hydrogen among different states, making production and distribution more economically attractive,” he said.
Kazakh-German ties
Andresh spoke positively of the Kazakh-German bilateral ties in light of the recent visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Kazakhstan.
“Kazakhstan and Germany have had good diplomatic relations for over 30 years. In the time that I have been here in Kazakhstan, I’ve seen an increasing interest and increasing cooperation. Last year, our President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visited Kazakhstan. We have a lot of investment agreements from German companies that were also established during the visit last week [referring to Scholz’s visit],” said Andresh.
“When the oil supply from Russia towards Germany stopped, Kazakhstan stepped in, which is also very highly valued by Germany. With this situation right now, we see there is also much more attention to the Middle Corridor – the Trans-Caspian transportation route,” he added.
In their October 2024 report, the International Renewable Energy Agency reveals global demand for hydrogen reached 97 million tons in 2023, marking a 2.5% increase from 2022. Most of this demand still comes from the refining and chemical sectors, where hydrogen is mainly produced from fossil fuels without emissions controls. The demand may reach almost 100 million tons in 2024.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the push for hydrogen energy is gaining significant traction. In 2021-2022, nine countries responsible for roughly 30% of global energy sector emissions unveiled their national hydrogen strategies.
