the Med-Gem Network Director Frank Wouters gave the opening keynote speech at the symposium before the retirement of Prof. Dr. Ad van Wijk from Delft University of Technology in front of some 700 attendants. In the Netherlands, Professor van Wijk is known as "the hydrogen professor", in Europe he is known for his vision on the future of the energy systems and the role of hydrogen therein, and for many people he is an inspiration In a live address, King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands personally thanked him for his vision and leadership on behalf of the people of the Netherlands.

Frank Wouters has published several articles and book chapters together with Prof. van Wijk, which informed his speech. In the paper “Speed, the forgotten cost reduction factor in the energy transition” the authors analyzed the cost and environmental differences between an accelerated, delayed, and gradual pathway for a large, advanced economy towards zero emissions by 2050. The results were very clear: a delayed transition is 20% more expensive than the gradual transition, and a whopping $7.7 trillion more expensive than the accelerated pathway, with 4 times higher emissions of CO2.

And the only way to achieve a speedy transition is to take big steps, which was underlined by a recent IEA report that showed that more than 75% of the targeted 420GW of electrolyzer projects by 2030, consist of projects larger than 1GW. 
We have to move fast and take big steps!

Frank Wouters, Director of MED-GEM Network is also Senior vice-president new energy, Reliance | Chairman Advisory board, Dii Desert Energy | Chairman, MENA Hydrogen Alliance.

Read more «The sky is the limit. Large scale renewable electricity and hydrogen production takes off» Opening keynote at Symposium and valedictory address of prof. dr. Ad van Wijk on October 27 at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. https://profadvanwijk.com/symposium

MED-GEM Network is a Technical Assistance initiative funded by the European Union's Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR). Implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH International Services.