Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor at an event in France in 2023
Engie urges caution on pace of hydrogen deployment
Applications in hard-to-abate industries will take longer than previously expected to develop, warns CEO
French energy company Engie has downplayed expectations for the rapid deployment of low-carbon hydrogen in hard-to-abate sectors such as steel production because of the “massive” investment needed to overhaul industrial processes to enable the switch. Switching to low-carbon hydrogen in existing applications, such as fertiliser production, can deliver decarbonisation “fairly easily” as long as the economics work, but new applications will take much longer to develop, Engie CEO Catherine MacGregor told the International Energy Week conference in London. “We had this big buzz around hydrogen when we thought that everything was happening at the same time,” she said. “Obviously things are takin
Also in this section
13 May 2025
Existing specifications have been a good starting point for standardisation of hydrogen quality, but they need rethinking—a 99.5 mol-% specification is a promising candidate
12 May 2025
The sector needs a standard covering hydrogen quality for the entire value chain, but no single hydrogen quality covers the needs of all stakeholders
9 May 2025
Hydrogen quality is an increasingly important area for the sector. Though well-established standards are in place, they typically cover only certain parts of assets and value chain
6 May 2025
European Commission backs hydrogen as best option to decarbonise steel sector, but questions remain over technology choices and funding
