10 GW Lighthouse Initiative

Why clean hydrogen?
Green hydrogen is produced through water electrolysis powered by renewable energy sources. It provides a reliable source of clean energy while supporting the creation of stable, long-term jobs. It is essential for decarbonizing hard-to-electrify sectors including heavy industry, shipping, and aviation.

By incorporating green hydrogen into their industrial and energy strategies, EMDCs can enhance energy security and create new economic growth opportunities for businesses and quality jobs for citizens. For more click here.

What are the barriers to success?
Despite around 500 hydrogen projects announced in EMDCs (excluding China), few have reached the Final Investment Decision (FID) stage due to perceived investment risks, regulatory uncertainties, and a lack of long-term offtake agreements. Supply chain disruptions, insufficient demand-side incentives and sometimes wavering policies all add to the challenges. 

What is the purpose of the initiative?
The Lighthouse Initiative aims to bring renewable hydrogen projects of 100 MW to 1 GW in capacity to Final Investment Decision by 2030.

It seeks to demonstrate the viability of well-designed large-scale clean hydrogen projects in EMDCs, reduce project costs through technology learning and point to innovative solutions for risk mitigation.

The initiative works to combine the financial means and the financial instruments of Development Financing Institutions to enable viable projects. 

Who is involved?
The World Bank Group serves as the convener of the 10 GW Lighthouse Initiative, providing organizational support and facilitating coordination across the public and private sectors. The Initiative unites 15 national and international development finance institutions including: the World Bank Group (IBRD, IFC and MIGA); the African Development Bank; Agence Française de Développement; Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank; Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF); Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP); European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); H2Global; Invest International; Inter-American Development Bank; Invest International; Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and KfW.

It is complemented by the fast-growing Hydrogen For Development (H4D) partnership which helps strengthen the market foundations in EMDCs, ensuring the necessary knowledge and frameworks for sustainable growth, energy security, and job creation.

Which developing countries have been prioritized?
A detailed and comprehensive assessment of the renewable hydrogen project pipelines in EMDCs is ongoing. Based on this evidence, the 10 GW Lighthouse Initiative is enabling hydrogen investment and fast-tracking project pipelines in ten priority countries: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, India, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa and Tunisia.

What are the key areas for collaboration?
There is no one-size-fits-all approach; countries’ strategies should be tailored to align with their unique strengths, priorities, and challenges to develop a successful green hydrogen market.

The Lighthouse Initiative is focused on the following areas:

1. Convene financing institutions to accelerate hydrogen deployment

2. Unlock project pipelines

3. Strengthen project due diligence and investor confidence

4. Reduce financing costs and bring down project unit costs

5. Attract private sector participation

Unprecedented international collaboration is enabling concessional finance availability, bringing together developers, policymakers, and investors to tackle the barriers to hydrogen expansion.

What’s next?
Through international collaboration, the Lighthouse Initiative is making clean hydrogen affordable, accessible, and commercially viable—empowering EMDCs to drive the global energy transition by 2030. We expect to deliver updates on the first project financing results at COP30 in Brazil in November 2025.

Contact us
For more information on the 10 GW Lighthouse Initiative, please contact dgielen@worldbank.org