Hydrogen governance in Germany: a challenge for federal coordination

The authors find a fragmentation of the different strategic goals and approaches towards the market ramp-up of hydrogen technologies, which results from a deficient multilateral coordination within the federal system. Hydrogen coordination in Germany is constrained by party-political and territorial conflicts, but also by the interaction between intra- and intergovernmental dynamics. Thus, to prevent fragmentation of complex energy transition issues, such as hydrogen, regular coordination is required at both the intra- and intergovernmental levels. Given the exemplary nature of the German case, this analysis offers insights for the study of similar coordination challenges encountered in various federal and multi-level systems.