BP (LON: BP) is to beef up its hydrogen team, according to a news report, with a new leader and plans to recruit dozens of staff.
The energy giant intends to hire 100 people to the hydrogen team this year, Reuters reports, to be headed up by veteran BP executive Felipe Arbelaez.
It comes as BP today announced it is taking over the Asian Renewable Energy Hub, one of the largest clean energy projects in the world.
The deal could see it become one of the largest producers of green hydrogen globally.
Changes to the team are expected to take effect on July 1, with the hydrogen division covering six regional team leaders and two separate teams dedicated to integration of hydrogen in BP operations.
Last year the energy giant appointed former RWE Renewables CEO Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath as new vice president for gas and low carbon energy.
She took up the role in March and this is seen as one of the first major changes she had brought on.
The 100 hires this year follow a similar number in 2021, BP said, as it seek to capture 10% of the global market.
Scepticism has reigned over the market for hydrogen in areas like domestic heating, with critics arguing the case for electrification as a more cost-effective solution.
Blue hydrogen – derived from natural gas – has also received criticism over its climate credentials.
However the invasion of Ukraine and European gas crisis has put further emphasis on the potential of green hydrogen, derived from renewables.
Germany, which relies heavily on Moscow for energy, is increasingly seeking to ramp up hydrogen as an alternative.
BP expects hydrogen to reach up to 15% of the global energy mix by 2050, at between 380 to 450 million tonnes per year
Arbalaez told Reuters that the hydrogen market “doesn’t exist in reality today” but government ambitions are moving away from oil and gas.
“Those ambitions are accelerating and the need for security of supply of energy, particularly in the European context on the back of the Ukrainian conflict, really accelerating the desire to develop alternatives.”
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