IRENA Innovation Week brings leaders, experts, industry representatives, academia, youth and policymakers together to explore cutting-edge innovations that can drive the global energy transition and advance sustainable development, enabled by renewable energy and digitalisation technologies.

The 2025 edition focuses on two aspects: Innovation in infrastructure for tripling renewables and Renewable-based solutions for sustainable development.

Day 3 sessions on Innovation in infrastructure for tripling renewables

Enabling next generation trade in renewable energy value chains

Co-organised by IRENA and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), this session explores how emerging trade patterns in renewable energy and hydrogen markets are reshaping global energy commerce as countries adapt to climate imperatives and evolving geopolitical circumstances. The energy transition is creating new paradigms where countries with abundant renewable resources emerge as exporters of renewable power, biofuels, and hydrogen derivatives, while nations with strong industrial sectors but limited resources increasingly rely on imports to decarbonise their energy systems.

Exploring how the energy transition will fundamentally reshape global trade dynamics and forge entirely new trading patterns, Ann-Kathrin Lipponer, IRENA, said, “We need to make sure that new value chains are not only sustainable but also resilient and cost-competitive,” during here scene-setting presentation. She emphasised that enabling measures for these emerging value chains should be built on three essential pillars: infrastructure, institutional frameworks, and social considerations.

In his scene-setting presentation, Deger Saygin, OECD, revealed projections for the global hydrogen market, forecasting growth to 30 million tonnes by 2040, driven primarily through ammonia. However, uncertainties surrounding demand and price projections are increasing risks for hydrogen projects and creating financing challenges. To overcome these barriers, effective de-risking strategies must deploy targeted instruments such as guarantees and Contracts for Difference, combined with strategic public-private partnerships that balances risk-return profiles and unlock large-scale investment.

The panel highlighted that international hydrogen trade currently operates as a buyers’ market, compelling producing countries to adhere to the diverse and complex regulations of importing nations. To unlock this market’s potential, robust financial frameworks, unified standards, and streamlined certification processes are indispensable. International cooperation emerges as the cornerstone for success, as Eleanor Webster, Mission Innovation, emphasised, “International cooperation is essential for reducing risks in cross-border markets. You can’t do that without speaking to each other.” This collaboration focuses on reducing cross-border risks, building trust between stakeholders, pooling R&D resources, and co-developing critical infrastructure, ultimately working to harmonise trade rules and foster global networks. Ultimately, regulatory certainty is necessary to stimulate investments in hydrogen infrastructure, as the ongoing uncertainty surrounding potential regulatory changes significantly slows down project development and market growth.

The fireside chat featured insights from Chenjiang Xiao from the China Hydrogen Alliance and Luca Corradi from the Net Zero Technology Centre, focusing on real-world developments in the next-generation hydrogen economy. Chenjiang Xiao highlighted China’s remarkable technological breakthroughs in electrolysers and diverse hydrogen production pathways, establishing China as a significant contributor in global hydrogen technology advancement and cost reduction.

Meanwhile, Luca Corradi presented the Net Zero Technology Centre’s pioneering work on transporting hydrogen from Scotland’s extensive offshore wind resources to Germany. Their studies reveal that a new, purpose-built pipeline offers the most cost-effective solution, positioning Scottish hydrogen as highly competitive. While much of the required infrastructure technology has reached maturity, additional R&D remains essential for large-scale compressors and calibrated hydrogen meters. Both speakers emphasised how technological innovation, infrastructure development, and international collaboration are vital for accelerating the global hydrogen economy and energy transition.

The closing remarks for this session underscored that international collaboration and coordination are crucial for building confidence and improving investment conditions in the evolving hydrogen market. This cooperation aims to bring producers and consumers together to align requirements, shape suitable international markets, and manage financing, offtake, and trade rules.

Infrastructure for sustainable fuels for shipping and aviation

This session explores critical infrastructure developments needed to scale sustainable fuels across aviation and maritime shipping sectors, which together account for 5-6% of global greenhouse gas emissions and face potential doubling of activity by 2050.  Ports and airports are switching to cleaner fuels like biofuels, green e-fuels, and renewable electricity, which requires updating existing infrastructure and building new systems to store, transport, and supply these fuels.

In his scene-setting presentation, Peter Schniering, Future Cleantech Architects, discussed the significant climate challenges and decarbonisation efforts within the shipping and aviation sectors. He highlighted that 40% of international shipping cargo by weight is fossil fuels, and shipping contributes 2% of global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, while aviation accounts for 2.5% of emissions with significant non-CO₂. effects. Both sectors face urgency due to long asset lifespans, with decarbonisation in aviation explored through electric, hydrogen, and Sustainable Aviation Fuels for varying flight ranges.

The second scene-setting presentation by Arno van den Bos, IRENA, introduced four essential strategies for decarbonising the shipping and aviation sectors: improving energy efficiency, electrification, utilising biomass/biofuels, and developing hydrogen-based e-fuels. For shipping, future fuels may include ammonia, advanced biofuels, and methanol, but these options are considerably more expensive than current heavy fuel oil, and sustainable carbon sources for methanol are scarce. While aviation’s fuel discussion is similar, it excludes ammonia and focuses on e-kerosene and biofuels, with the global transport of hydrogen derivatives like ammonia and methanol also impacting shipping infrastructure.

In the final scene-setting presentation, Zhang Chang, Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, shared insights on China’s green hydrogen status and trends, emphasising its vital role in decarbonising hard-to-electrify transportation sectors like aviation and shipping through e-fuels such as ammonia and methanol. Green hydrogen production capacity is increasing driven by national carbon goals and supportive policies, but challenges remain in achieving stable and low-cost supply, which is crucial for the overall cost and green attribute of these fuels. Future development focuses on integrating green hydrogen production with renewable energy sources, along with continuous efforts in cost reduction and green certification.

The panel discussion focused on the multifaceted challenges and pathways for decarbonising the shipping and aviation sectors using green fuels, such as ammonia, methanol, and Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs). The panellists highlighted key challenges, including the immense infrastructure investments required for the transport and distribution of new fuels, particularly for shipping where port specialization and safety concerns with substances like ammonia are critical. As Pierpaolo from the European Transport and Energy Research Center emphasised, “Besides transport, storage, compression and liquefaction, safety and costs are key concerns for decarbonization of maritime shipping with alternative fuels like ammonia, and methanol. In shipping sector, a revolution is needed regarding renewable fuels.”

For aviation, the difficulties lie in securing sufficient and sustainable feedstocks, streamlining complex global certification processes, and overcoming high production costs. Ralph-Uwe Dietrich, German Aerospace Center (DLR) underscored the regulatory complexity, stating, “Regulation needs to be streamlined, simplified, and reflecting exactly the environmental benefits that we want to achieve.” Overarching issues for both sectors include the need to ramp up green fuel production, attract significant financial investment, establish clear and consistent global standards, and implement effective market mechanisms to drive demand and manage high premiums.

The panel concluded by exploring visions for the future, which will likely see short-distance electrification and the use of e-fuels for long-distance transport, underscoring that all decarbonisation pathways are necessary.