Skills

skills
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Our Mission in this field

We are dedicated to assisting developing countries in preparing adequate skills and know-how to boost resilient and sustainable industrialization based on green/clean hydrogen.

 

 

Developing countries that have put hydrogen as an important component in their energy strategies need to anticipate the technical sustainability of the value chain. Human capital development is at the core of any striving economy. The hydrogen economy has the potential to create economic value and millions of jobs. Nevertheless, most of these new jobs are expected to be technically skilled. Different occupational profiles required along the value chain will need to be upskilled and re-skilled, from technicians to assemblers, to engineers, to accompanying services such as qualified maintenance technicians and certifiers, who need to be prepared to take advantage of the benefits of the hydrogen ecosystem.

To fully leverage the potential of the hydrogen economy, meet the ambitious hydrogen development targets and deliver on national and regional strategies, developing countries need to prepare upskilling and reskilling strategies to face the challenge of limited workers and skills - and training gap of today to prepare their human capacities and skills.

In addition, it’s imperative to focus on declining sectors and encourage employees to adjust/enhance their technical skills to align with the needs of the burgeoning hydrogen economy. Countries must also prioritize gender considerations in their workforce planning efforts.

Through its Global Programme for Hydrogen in Industry, and collaboration with universities, research centres, industry players, and regional and national associations, UNIDO analyses the hydrogen market needs in developing countries, collects best practices, offers guidance to member states on the development of appropriate skills and expertise, and provide educational resources and training programs on the subject matter.

UNIDO has developed a methodology to assess skills for green hydrogen. The methodology includes a skills map that contains more than 60 different occupations with more than 40 identified technical skills required across the entire value chain (production, storage, distribution, industrial use), of hydrogen. This map serves to compare against current human capital capacities in a given country, identify the technical gaps and thus allow the development of specific interventions to build capacity on vocational, educational and/or training programs required to supply the hydrogen value chain.

Consult our E-Trainings

In this focus area, UNIDO provides support on the global as well as regional & national levels:

  • Develop and apply a methodology to identify skill gaps at national and regional levels.
  • Partner with industry and academia to design a fit-for-purpose training offer to tackle the most common skills gaps in developing countries.
  • Share best practices on vocational educational training (VET) programs for hydrogen.

  • Support countries to develop and implement hydrogen upskilling and reskilling strategies.
    Based on a tailored assessment of current human capital capacities.
  • Support national VET programs to acquire best practices on training for hydrogen.

Highlights

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1 June 2023 Publication
Brochure on the UNIDO’s Global Programme for Hydrogen in Industry
A HYDROGEN ECONOMY: OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIESProduced from renewable energy sources, green hydrogen (GH2), also known as renewable hydrogen, is the fuel of the future. It is clean, storable and portable, and can be blended into existing energy networks and integrated with current infrastructure. Green hydrogen and low-carbon hydrogen[1] are key to decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries such as steel production, cement, chemicals and heavy transport, which together account for 30 per cent of global CO2 emissions. In short, hydrogen can help countries around the world achieve their climate goals.
Tunisia, Austria and UNIDO advance long-term collaboration on green hydrogen
14 March 2023 News
Tunisia, Austria and UNIDO advance long-term collaboration on green hydrogen
TUNIS - More than 80 Tunisian and Austrian stakeholders, with 30 percent of women representation, gathered in a technical workshop on green hydrogen and water-related impacts. The event was co-organized by UNIDO in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Climate Action (BMK) to discuss future collaboration and projects in hydrogen between Tunisia and Austria. As with other European countries with a strong industrial sector, Austria is prepared to invest in cutting-edge and climate-neutral technologies for green steel and chemicals, and to minimize their carbon footprint. Achieving decarbonization objectives require vast quantities of green hydrogen and green electricity, which requires large investments, along with the development of transport infrastructure/trade corridors and collaborative partnerships. Specifics of the Austrian hydrogen strategy and climate commitments were presented by a representative of the BMK. Whereas, the Tunisian strategy, currently under development was introduced by a representative of the Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy who stressed challenges, such as water scarcity in Tunisia.Tunisia's strategic geographic location, vast renewable energy potential, and stable political situation are excellent conditions for the country to become a producer of green hydrogen, both for internal and external markets. Green hydrogen production can help decarbonize Tunisian metallurgical, ceramic and glass sectors; and create new sustainable industries such as fertilizers based on green ammonia. It also has the potential to become a catalyst to meet Central Europe's, including Austria's hydrogen needs across industries, transportation, and energy. Participants discussed that the current gas corridor between North Africa and Southern Europe can be repurposed to transport large quantities of cost-competitive green hydrogen from Tunisia through Italy to central Europe, including Austria leveraging existing gas infrastructure.The discussions pointed out that:It is fundamental to take into consideration and understand how green hydrogen can be integrated into the country’s renewable energy portfolio and be deployed in industries. Green hydrogen production should not absorb renewable electricity capacities, thereby, decelerating domestic energy transition.Green hydrogen market development opens new opportunities for developed and developing countries. To succeed, the existing market barriers must be addressed. These include the lack of coordination, skills and competencies, financing and investment mechanisms, policies, and regulations.