Dr. Dale Thomas is dual-qualified in Clinical Psychology and sport and performance psychology who is currently supporting athletes training with TeamGB
Dr. Dale Thomas pictured with TeamGB athletes. Photo: Solstice Bermuda
Full press release:
As Bermuda gears up for Cup Match, a celebration of culture, sport, and community, Solstice is thrilled to introduce a timely new addition to its team — a psychologist who knows a thing or two about performance under pressure.
Dr. Dale Thomas, a UK- and Bermuda-registered Clinical Psychologist, joins the Solstice multidisciplinary team, bringing with him over a decade of experience in both clinical mental health and elite performance psychology.
With a unique approach that blends evidence-based therapy, coaching psychology, and nature-based interventions, Dr. Thomas is a perfect match for this vibrant time of year.
Originally from Wales, Dr. Thomas is dual-qualified in Clinical Psychology and sport and performance psychology.
He has supported high-performing individuals in sport, medicine, and business across the UK and internationally, including Olympic athletes and teams representing Wales, England, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, and the British & Irish Lions. He is currently a Performance Psychologist with TeamGB as they prepare for the upcoming Olympic and Para Olympic Games.
Dr. Thomas’s clients also include corporate leaders, neurosurgeons and other medical professionals, with interventions focused on cognitive performance, emotional regulation and stress management during high-pressure situations.
He specialises in anxiety, fear, and low mood – helping clients understand the neurological underpinnings of these emotions and channel them into strength and resilience. His interventions blend therapies such as CBT, DBT, EMDR, and ACT with coaching psychology and behavioural activation, often outside traditional settings.
“Dr. Thomas has already made his mark, bringing his extensive experience in Surf Therapy to our popular Friday Surf Club,” said Dr. Eloise Pitts Crick, Executive Director at Solstice.
“We’re excited to incorporate his expertise into our new Anti-Fragile Programme, which fuses psychological health with physical wellness, strength, and risk-taking.”
Beyond the clinic, Dr. Thomas is a passionate advocate for outdoor therapy and takes full advantage of Bermuda’s natural landscape – offering individual and group sessions along the coastline, in parks, on golf courses, and even on the water.
“We are beyond thrilled to welcome Dr. Thomas to the Solstice team,” said Kelly Madeiros, Managing Director. “His clinical depth, performance insight, and genuine passion for holistic mental health will be a tremendous asset to so many aspects of our community.”
Dr. Thomas shared: “Since arriving in Bermuda, I’ve been struck by the warmth of the people and the beauty of the island. I’m thrilled to be joining such a passionate and forward-thinking team at Solstice, where there’s a real drive to innovate and expand how we support mental wellness.
“Whether you’re an athlete, a leader, or simply someone seeking support, there’s space here for your growth.”
With the addition of Dr. Thomas, Solstice strengthens its commitment to offering diverse, world-class mental health services tailored to the needs of Bermuda’s community. His arrival marks an exciting step forward as Solstice continues to bridge clinical care with innovation, performance and wellbeing in all its forms.
For more information, visit www.solstice.bm or call 292 3456
Bermuda’s Under 12 Girls’ tennis team has made a resounding start to their 2025 International Tennis Federation (ITF)/COTECC Sub Region 3 competition in the Dominican Republic, securing a convincing 3-0 victory over Puerto Rico.
The Bermudian squad, captained by Steve Bean, demonstrated strong form across all matches. Lee Terciera set the tone with a dominant performance in the No.1 Singles match, defeating Milena Ramirez in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
Chloe McBrearty followed suit in the No.2 Singles, proving too strong for Valentina Gomez with another impressive straight-sets victory, 6-1, 6-1.
The clean sweep was completed in the doubles rubber, where the pairing of Lee Terciera and Arianna Parra Delgado combined effectively to defeat the Puerto Rican duo of Valentina Gomez and Adriana Sanabria 6-3, 6-2.
This emphatic 3-0 win provides a fantastic start for the Bermuda U12 Girls team in this prestigious ITF/COTECC event, setting a strong precedent for their upcoming matches.
Apple and Google’s mobile platforms hold an “effective duopoly”, with around 90-100% of UK mobile devices running on their mobile platforms
International News via Reuters:
Britain on Wednesday told Apple and Google to be fairer in how they distribute apps on their mobile platforms, setting out possible interventions as it plans to designate the U.S. tech companies with strategic market status over their duopoly.
The country’s competition regulator, which was given a wider remit this year to take on Big Tech, laid out concerns relating to inconsistent and unpredictable app review processes, inconsistent app store search rankings, and up to 30% commission on some in-app purchases.
Apple and Google’s mobile platforms hold an “effective duopoly”, with around 90-100% of UK mobile devices running on their mobile platforms, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a statement.
“Apple and Google’s mobile platforms are both critical to the UK economy … but our investigation so far has identified opportunities for more innovation and choice,” CMA head Sarah Cardell said.
She said the CMA’s “targeted and proportionate” actions would support British app developers – who contribute an estimated 1.5% to the country’s economy – to innovate.
Interventions could require the companies to make their app store review and ranking processes fairer and more transparent, including fair warnings of changes to the process or guidelines and appropriate channels for businesses to raise concerns.
Apple and Google pushed back against the CMA’s proposals, with Google calling the step “disappointing and unwarranted.”
“It is … crucial that any new regulation is evidence-based, proportionate and does not become a roadblock to growth in the UK,” Google’s senior director for competition, Oliver Bethell, said.
Apple said it was concerned that the new rules being considered would undermine the privacy and security protections expected by its users.
‘MISSED OPPORTUNITY’
In contrast, “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, which stands to benefit from a more open mobile ecosystem, said the regulator had not gone far enough.
It said the CMA, which gained more global prominence as a regulator following Brexit, had “deprioritised store competition entirely” by pushing it to be considered in 2026, calling it a “missed opportunity.”
The company, which has launched its own marketplace app in Europe, said it could not bring its app store to Apple’s mobile operating system (iOS) in Britain this year and said that Fortnite’s return to Apple’s iOS was also uncertain.
The regulator is also under pressure from Britain’s Labour government, which has called on regulators to prioritise growth in hopes of rejuvenating a stagnant economy to regain voter confidence.
A final decision on both the designations will be made by October 22, the CMA said. It also published roadmaps on potential further action as part of these parallel investigations.
A strategic market status designation allows the CMA to impose interventions on a company, such as requiring it to adhere to specific behaviour so as not to undermine fair competition.
For Alphabet-owned Google, mobile platforms are the second market where it has come in for closer scrutiny under the CMA’s new regime, following the watchdog’s proposal last month to designate Google in general search and search advertising.
Reporting by Muvija M and Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar, William James and Jane Merriman
Money flooded into drugmakers’ shares during the COVID-19 pandemic but more recently there has been an exodus as investors shifted into Big Tech
International News via Reuters:
Global healthcare stocks have not been this cheap in decades and fund inflows into the sector are picking up, yet the shares remain in the doldrums, highlighting uncertainty over drug pricing policies since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Pharma companies’ earnings outlook is being obscured by concerns over revived “most-favored-nation” drug pricing rules in the lucrative U.S. market and potential 200% tariffs on pharma imports into the U.S.
Money flooded into drugmakers’ shares during the COVID-19 pandemic but more recently there has been an exodus as investors shifted into Big Tech, leaving the sector cheap but unloved.
At 15.9 times forward earnings, healthcare trades 11% below its long-term average and 20% below global equities, its steepest discount in 16 years, just above a record discount in 2009, based on LSEG Datastream data.
“We’ve moved from cautious optimism to cautious pessimism,” said Stephanie Aliaga, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in New York. “Valuations have gotten even cheaper, but for a reason,” she added, referring to intensifying U.S. policy risks.
But some investors are starting to look past the Washington policy fog and at long-term positive drivers, such as aging populations, RNA-based therapeutics, and breakthroughs in weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
‘ARMAGEDDON SCENARIO’
Alberto Conca, CIO at Swiss wealth manager LFG+ZEST, has been adding exposure to pharma, biotech and medtech in recent weeks, drawn by strong cash-flow yields and the prospect of U.S. rate cuts boosting this rate-sensitive sector.
Interest rate cuts typically support healthcare by lowering R&D funding costs and boosting the value of future cash flows.
“These are quality companies with good growth and defensive features being priced as if we’re heading into an ‘Armageddon scenario’, which I believe is unlikely,” he said.
UK-based M&G Investments has also been selectively adding to healthcare, according to its latest allocation report.
Healthcare funds have seen net inflows since 2024, more than reversing the outflows from late 2022 through 2023, fund tracker EPFR data shows. Although year-to-date, inflows total $7.2 billion, down 41% from last year.
Innovation is accelerating, pipelines are maturing and M&A is showing signs of picking up – yet stock prices are unmoved.
Whether that represents a buying opportunity or a value trap hinges on how and when the policy uncertainty clears, investors said.
CATALYST NEEDED
Historically, healthcare has traded at a modest premium to world stocks, thanks to its defensive profile and steady earnings. But that narrative has unravelled under political pressure from Washington and investors’ love of Big Tech.
Over the past three years, U.S. healthcare has underperformed the S&P 500 by more than 60 percentage points, making it the worst sectoral performer on Wall Street. Its valuation has deepened to a near-record 27% discount, from parity to the S&P in 2023.
“Markets don’t like uncertainty, and that shows up in valuations,” said Eddie Yoon, healthcare sector leader and portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments in Boston. “Being cheap isn’t necessarily a reason to buy. You need a catalyst.”
For now, that catalyst is elusive. The policy uncertainty makes it difficult to forecast future earnings, he said, though he hopes for more clarity by year-end – potentially also paving the way for more M&A in the industry.
Talks with the Trump administration have yet to clarify how and when drug prices will fall, executives from Eli Lilly and Merck said at a May industry conference.
Yoon, who has typically been underweight Big Pharma due to patent expiry risks, notes smaller, innovative firms are becoming profitable.
“We’re seeing companies go from unprofitable to very profitable,” he said, citing Alnylam and Penumbra as examples he owns. “Historically, that’s been a very good time to own healthcare stocks.”
LFG+ZEST’s Conca, who favours U.S. names like Abbott, Edwards Lifesciences, and AbbVie, along with Sanofi and Recordati in Europe, said interest rate cuts could be a major catalyst.
OUT OF THE WOODS?
In Europe, healthcare is even cheaper than U.S. pharma, trading at 14.3 times forward earnings. A 55% drop in shares of Novo Nordisk in the last year, related in part to concerns over competition in obesity drugs, along with tariff-driven production shifts to the U.S., has weighed on valuations.
“The sector will adapt,” wrote Arnaud Cadart, healthcare analyst at France’s CIC Market Solutions. But that will come “at the cost of rebalancing its revenues and probably transforming its organisations.”
AstraZeneca, for example, has unveiled a $50 billion U.S. investment.
For now, the sector remains in limbo: cheap, but lacking enough visibility to trigger a broad re-rating.
“Healthcare has endured a lot of pain,” said J.P. Morgan’s Aliaga. “We’re not sure if that pain is done, but the worst is likely over, given how extreme the exodus has been.”
Reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Jane Merriman
Bermuda’s professional footballers are actively involved in pre-season action across England, fine-tuning their skills and fitness ahead of the new domestic campaigns. Nahki Wells, Kane Crichlow, Reggie Lambe, and Harry Twite have all featured for their respective clubs, experiencing a mixed bag of results.
Wells’ Luton Maintain Winning Ways
Bermudian international Nahki Wells and his Luton Town teammates secured another pre-season victory, defeating Southend United 2-0 at Roots Hall. This result continues Luton’s strong start to their warm-up campaign, building positive momentum for the upcoming season. Wells himself has been finding his feet with his new club, having scored in a previous friendly against Colchester United and providing an attacking threat in recent outings.
Crichlow and Sutton United Find Form
Kane Crichlow was also on the winning side as Sutton United FC triumphed 2-0 over Chertsey Town. Crichlow, who recently signed for Sutton United, has already made a strong impression, including scoring a late winner in a previous friendly against Wycombe Wanderers. His involvement will be vital as Sutton United fine-tune their squad ahead of competitive fixtures.
Lambe’s Needham Market Edged Out
Reggie Lambe and his Needham Market teammates faced Ipswich Town U21s in a pre-season friendly at Bloomfield. Despite a spirited effort, Lambe’s side went down narrowly, losing 2-1. These matches provide important fitness and tactical preparation against varied opposition as Needham Market prepares for their league season.
Twite’s Loughborough Secure Hard-Fought Win
Defender Harry Twite and his Loughborough Student FC teammates earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Stratford Town FC at the Arden Garages Stadium. The clean sheet will be particularly pleasing for Twite and the Loughborough defence as they conclude their pre-season schedule, looking to carry this defensive solidity into their competitive matches.
Ham was most recently co-CEO of Deutsche Neumis and head of global private growth capital at Deutsche Bank
International News via Reuters:
Barclays has appointed former Deutsche Bank executive Alex Ham as global chairman of investment banking, the British lender said on Wednesday.
Ham was most recently co-CEO of Deutsche Neumis and head of global private growth capital at Deutsche Bank, with a focus on clients in the venture capital and technology sectors, where Barclays said it is looking to expand.
The hire comes as Barclays looks to grow its market share in equity capital markets and mergers and acquisitions, traditional banking advisory markets that have been dominated by Wall Street rivals in recent years.
Ham will start at Barclays in early 2026, the bank said.
Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Jan Harvey
The protests occurred outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, about 20 miles north of London, that has been used to house asylum seekers
International News via Reuters:
British police will have hundreds of officers on duty this weekend to deal with protests linked to immigration, a regional police chief said on Wednesday, amid worries over possible rioting.
Ben-Julian Harrington said he was aware demonstrations were being advertised for Saturday and Sunday in Epping, in the county of Essex to London’s northeast, after protests over the last week which resulted in violent disorder offences.
“We’ll have a robust policing operation. Essex is safe. You will have hundreds of officers on duty,” Harrington, the Essex chief constable, told a press conference.
The protests occurred outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, about 20 miles north of London, that has been used to house asylum seekers.
Five men have been charged with incidents of violent disorder in recent days, after police made 10 arrests following damage to vehicles and protesters throwing projectiles that injured eight officers.
The police alert follows nationwide rioting last summer when racist unrest involving far-right supporters broke out after false reports on social media that a suspect in the murder of three girls was a radical Islamist migrant.
The anniversary of those murders in Southport is July 29.
Essex Police’s focus is on protecting communities while allowing peaceful protest to take place, Harrington said.
The Epping hotel has become the focal point for some anti-immigration protesters and pro-immigration groups after an Ethiopian asylum seeker living there was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity. He denies the charges, according to a BBC report.
The man had arrived in Britain by boat from northern Europe eight days before the alleged incident on July 7, the BBC said, adding he had been remanded in custody.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to stop thousands of migrants arriving in Britain via small boats, but is struggling to do so. Official data published earlier this month showed nearly 20,000 asylum seekers arrived on small boats in the first six months of the year, marking a record high for the period.
Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Mark Heinrich
Health Ministry has launched a survey that aims to improve care
Press release: The Ministry of Health invites the participation of residents and parents of children who have received care for respiratory illnesses such as Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in completing the corresponding Respiratory Illness Patient Care Surveys.
The Respiratory Illness Patient Care Surveys for Asthma and COPD will launch on Wednesday, 23 July 2025. All responses must be submitted by Friday, 22 August 2025. Each Survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete, and all feedback will remain anonymous. The individual surveys can be accessed through the following links:
As part of the implementation of the 2022 – 2027 Health Strategy and Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the Ministry is working to better understand the journey of both adults and children living with the specific respiratory illnesses of Asthma and COPD. The two surveys will be collecting perspectives from residents on experiences accessing and using health services related to these illnesses and will be used to strengthen patients’ overall care experience.
The two surveys are a part of the Ministry’s current Respiratory Illness Integrated Care Pathway initiative and is being led by a multidisciplinary working group that is Chaired by Debbie Barboza, Asthma and COPD Nurse Educator at Bermuda Hospitals Board, and supported by the Ministry’s UHC Project Management Office.
Integrated Care Pathways take a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to managing care for individuals with specific needs, in this case, individuals with Asthma and COPD. They outline a patient’s entire care journey, specifying what happens, when, and who is responsible at each stage. This process includes working group sessions and one-on-one interviews with both patients and health service providers.
To date, patient and service provider interviews have been conducted and two workshops have been scheduled and will include patient representatives and health service providers specialising in pediatrics, respiratory physiology, GPs, and public health.
“Asthma and COPD were identified as two of the priority diseases in the 2023 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment requiring the development of a priority disease control plan,” shares the Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson, JP, MP.
“Asthma was also one of the leading five reasons for pediatric insurance claims in 2021 and on a global level is the most common long-term condition in children. The results of these surveys will inform the creation and implementation of the Respiratory Illness Integrated Care Pathway, ensuring patient needs can be effectively addressed.”
“As Chair of the Working Group, I strongly encourage everyone impacted by these health conditions to participate in the patient surveys on respiratory illness,” invites Debbie Barboza. “Your feedback is essential in helping us understand the real-world challenges faced by patients and in developing a comprehensive and integrated care pathway that improves outcomes for all those affected by respiratory conditions.”
Minister Wilson concluded, “I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all health system stakeholders and respiratory illness patients who have contributed to this initiative so far, and to those who will continue to do so in the future. Your ongoing involvement is not only vital to this project, but also to all health system strengthening initiatives. Together, we are laying the foundation for a healthier and brighter future for all of Bermuda.”
ABOUT THE BERMUDA HEALTH STRATEGY AND UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE:
The Bermuda Health Strategy 2022 – 2027 (“The Health Strategy”) was developed as the next phase of work for the Ministry of Health as it works to achieve the vision of “healthy people in healthy communities”. The Health Strategy provides the frame to shift Bermuda’s health system as it works to implement Universal Health Coverage (“UHC”) and shift to a more people-centred approach to healthcare that focuses on delivering better care that meets the needs of individuals and families today and into the future. Bermuda’s UHC programme is a multi-year, multi-phased initiative that seeks to ensure “all people have equitable access to needed informative, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative essential health services, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that people do not suffer financial hardship when paying for these services and critical medicines.”
Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation has been at 27 Jubilee Road, for almost 20 years. Many of you know this glorious building as the Old Elliot School or Saint Mattais Hall. Their teachers know it as family. Their students know it as freedom. Their parents have voted them as the Best Arts Programme for many years now. They have heard that we are the mosh pit of the arts organisations on our island.
They all call it home.
Kaleidoscope is the place for climbing trees, mud kitchens, hot glue guns, hand saws, drills and hammers, of painting the paper and painting themselves and let us not forget three dimensional art!
Sadly, they have come to the end of their relationship with this wonderful property as this space does not belong to Kaleidoscope. They have been given notice by their landlords to leave/vacate the property by March 31st, 2026, three months shy of finishing their last school year, and five months shy of having just one more summer camp, as they will be starting major renovations with an unknown finish date and changes in the layout that will no longer work for their programs.
With less than eight months to secure a new home they need your help.
They want to continue to grow and have children flourish. They will need a huge amount of support from our community and they are sharing their needs with everyone they can think of.
They need the community’s help in finding them the right space, for now and forever.
Mrs Rodriguez-Roberts told us, “Ideally this space would allow us to continue our current programs and have the space to expand. To keep our programmes as they are our forever space would need to stay centrally located, with access to a play/garden space, and indoor space of at least 2,500 sq ft. To grow it would have more than four classrooms, lots more storage space and over an acre of land.”
“We are all extremely hopeful but also realistic that we will have to find a place in the interim, but we would really love to not have to move everything twice.”
They are looking for our partners and supporters to help us build connections to rent a space/co-located with a property where we can host at least 40 students for camps and classes.
Kaleidoscope is full of passionate and creative individuals. They know they can make a new space just as magical. Kaleidoscope did that in 2006 when they moved into the shell of the building at 27 Jubilee Road. A shell both inside and outside. They can do it again.
They have to find a new space.
Kaleidoscope has used their current space to empower children through art, nature & play. Over 10,000 students have come through their programs. Kaleidoscope currently runs programs for all the public pre schools, public primary classes from P3-P5, Dame Marjory Bean as well as ASL classes from West Pembroke. Our enchantment programs give students the opportunity to create and build their self confidence through choice.
95% of our public school teachers stated – My students built their creative thinking while with Kaleidoscope.
One teacher shared, “Thank you for all that you do for our students. The arts are very important and their first more structured art experience has been a pleasurable one.”
Kalediscope believes it is important to share about our public school programs, which are unknown to much of the community. Many also do not know that they have programs for younger students. They have a licensed nursery class for 2-5 yr olds and child and guardian classes for 18 months to 3 yr olds. These two programmes work as building blocks for children to connect children to textures, play, nature, and early literacy skills.
“The evidence indicates that expressive arts and design play an important role in supporting children’s learning across a range of areas, and PSED (Personal, Social and Emotional Development).’ Pascal, C., Bertram, T., & Rouse, L. (2019). Getting it right in the Early Years Foundation Stage: a review of the evidence. Centre for Research in Early Childhood
Kaleidoscope offers many programs to reach its mission of empowering children through art. They serve over 1,000 students a year in the programmes above and as well as after school classes, one day camps and week long camps.
They are looking for at least 2500 square feet of classroom space, with multiple rooms as well as outside garden space for our natural play space.
Will you join them in finding and funding this new location?
To find out how your voice, your connections, and your advocacy can help Kaleidoscope contact them at 542-9000 or email info@kaf.bm, they would love your help!
For further information, or if you’re in need of high-resolution images, please get in touch with Dani Frith, Kaleidoscope’s Operations Manager, via email at dani@kaf.bm or by phone at 542.9000.
Von der Leyen said the EU and Japan would seek to strengthen economic security
International News via Reuters:
The European Union and Japan will work more closely to counter economic coercion and address unfair trade practices, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on Wednesday.
Von der Leyen’s comments came after an EU-Japan summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as the EU struggles to conclude a trade deal with the United States and a day before potentially tough meetings with Chinese leaders.
Japan struck a trade deal with the United States on Tuesday that lowered tariffs on auto imports in exchange for U.S.-bound investment and loans.
Von der Leyen said the EU and Japan would seek to strengthen economic security.
“We will also work more closely together to counter economic coercion and to address unfair trade practices,” she said, adding later: “We believe in global competitiveness and it should benefit everyone.”
Ishiba told reporters that the EU and Japan would work to maintain and strengthen a rules-based, free and fair economic order.
Ishiba added that the EU and Japan had agreed to work to strengthen the defence industry and to start talks for an information security agreement.
“In the field of security, we agreed to cooperate to launch a defense industry dialogue to strengthen the defense industrial base, which is a priority for both sides, and to begin official negotiations on a Japan-EU information security agreement,” Ishiba said.
Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Makini Brice and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Kim Coghill
The challenges facing the sector have exposed its initial ambitions as unrealistic
International News via Reuters:
Green hydrogen developers are cancelling projects and trimming investments around the world, raising the prospect of longer than targeted reliance on fossil fuels.
The challenges facing the sector have exposed its initial ambitions as unrealistic.
Hard-to-electrify industries that were seen as ideal candidates for green hydrogen, such as steelmaking and long-distance transportation, have found that transition to the low-carbon fuel looks prohibitively expensive.
The gap between ambition and reality in Europe shows the extent of the reset happening within the industry, said Jun Sasamura, hydrogen manager at research company Westwood Global Energy.
Only about a fifth of planned hydrogen projects across the European Union are likely to come online by the end of the decade, he said. That equates to roughly 12 GW of production capacity against an EU target of 40 GW, Westwood Global Energy data shows.
“In the current state, I really don’t see the EU 2030 (hydrogen production) target being reached,” he added.
INFLATED EXPECTATIONS
Companies say that high costs and a lack of demand for green hydrogen have rendered many plans unprofitable.
“Green hydrogen was an inflated expectation that has turned into a valley of disillusionment,” said Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, chief executive of Portuguese power company EDP.
“What’s missing is the demand. There are 400 million euros ($464.2 million) of subsidies for hydrogen in Spain and Portugal, but we need someone to buy the hydrogen.”
The company has several projects in advanced stages but cannot move forward because of a lack of buyers, said Ana Quelhas, EDP’s hydrogen chief and co-chair of the European Renewable Hydrogen Coalition.
Across the border, Spain’s Iberdrola has shelved plans to increase capacity at a green hydrogen plant with electrolyser capacity of 20 MW until it finds buyers for additional output, company executive Iban Molina said at an energy event in Madrid.
They are among more than a dozen large companies that have trimmed spending or shelved projects across Europe, Asia, Australia and elsewhere in recent years.
Companies had scrapped or delayed more than a fifth of all European projects by the end of last year, Westwood Global Energy says.
At Aurora Energy Research, Emma Woodward said: “In 2020-2021 we had this view of hydrogen and the fact it was going to be used in almost every sector that hadn’t been electrified.
“I think we’ve realised now that there are other, probably more commercially viable, alternatives for lots of sectors. Maybe we don’t need as much hydrogen as initially expected.”
TOO EXPENSIVE
Many governments have long supported development of green hydrogen – produced through electrolysis that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity from renewables – to help to decarbonise energy, transport and industry.
Countries including Australia, Britain, Germany and Japan announced ambitious investment strategies they hoped would bring down costs and eventually create a profitable green hydrogen sector that would no longer need support.
Production, however, remains more expensive than for natural gas and other fossil fuel-based alternatives, said Minh Khoi Le, Rystad Energy’s head of hydrogen research.
It is at least three times more expensive than natural gas as a fuel for power generation, for example, and twice as expensive as grey hydrogen. The latter is produced from natural gas and coal and is already used in industries such as oil refining and production of ammonia and methanol.
Costs could fall by 30-40% in 10-15 years if equipment prices decline and the broader supply chain scales up, he added, while Aurora’s Woodward and Westwood Global Energy’s Sasamura said that green hydrogen is unlikely to become competitive before then.
Only 6 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of low-carbon hydrogen capacity – including green and blue hydrogen, which is made from gas – is either operational or under construction globally, consultancy Wood Mackenzie says.
This is well below the 450 mtpa the consultancy says is needed as part of the global push for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The EU has committed to reducing emissions by 55% from 1990 levels by 2030, en route to the 2050 target.
BUYERS PRICED OUT THE MARKET
The industry had counted on sectors such as steel, oil refining, cement and transport to be among the first buyers, but the expected demand has failed to materialise.
German die forging company Dirostahl, which makes components for wind turbines, ships and oil and gas drill pipes, is dependent on furnaces fired by natural gas and is looking for a replacement.
However, green hydrogen is still too expensive. Offers for the fuel do not come below 150 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) while natural gas can be bought for 30-35 euros/MWh, said Chief Executive Roman Diederichs.
“It simply doesn’t work. You might not want to call it economic suicide, but in practice it would be just that. We’d be completely uncompetitive,” he said.
Prices remain elevated because of the high cost of electrolysers needed for large-scale production, infrastructure bottlenecks and increased energy costs resulting from rules on what constitutes green hydrogen.
Some European countries have scaled back their ambitions. Italy has recently shifted more than 600 million euros in post-pandemic funds from hydrogen to biomethane. France lowered its 2030 hydrogen electrolysis capacity target by more than 30% in April and Portugal has cut its electrolysis capacity ambitions by 45%.
The Dutch government last year made sharp cuts to funds it had originally reserved for green hydrogen projects and battery development, shifting the focus of its climate fund toward the planned construction of two new nuclear plants.
Several players in Australia, meanwhile, have scaled back or withdrawn from projects despite more than A$8 billion ($5.2 billion) of pledged government support.
Projects that are going ahead also face delays. Rystad Energy analysts estimate that 99% of A$100 billion of projects announced for the next five years have failed to progress beyond the concept or approval stage.
INFRASTRUCTURE DIFFICULTIES
Another problem is that hydrogen is difficult to store because it requires high-pressure tanks, extremely low temperatures and tends to leak, making for risky transportation through old gas pipelines while awaiting new infrastructure.
Spain hopes to build a 2,600 km (1,615 mile) hydrogen network and connect it to another project – the trans-European H2Med link – from the Iberian region to northwest Europe.
The Spanish network should be operational around 2030, but delays of two or three years are likely for broader European infrastructure, said Arturo Gonzalo, CEO of Spanish gas grid operator Enagas.
“Infrastructure is not something that happens when the market has already taken off; it is something that has to happen for the market to take off,” he said.
($1 = 0.8617 euros)
($1 = 1.5340 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Pietro Lombardi in Madrid, Nina Chestney in London and Riham Alkousaa in BerlinAdditional reporting by Sergio Goncalves in Lisbon, Vera Eckert in Frankfurt, Bart Meijer in Amsterdam, Christine Chen in Canberra and Sam Li in BeijingEditing by David Goodman
High energy costs and competition from Chinese producers have struck Europe’s steel industry in recent years
International News via Reuters:
SSAB’s earnings fell more than expected in the second quarter, hit by lower steel prices and a weakening European market due to tariff-driven uncertainty, the Swedish steelmaker said on Wednesday, sending its shares more than 7% lower.
High energy costs and competition from Chinese producers have struck Europe’s steel industry in recent years, while President Donald Trump’s tariffs have brought on fresh challenges.
“The turbulence of tariffs and trade barriers resulted in increased uncertainty,” CEO Johnny Sjostrom said in a statement, with the largest impact seen in the weakening European steel market.
The biggest issue is that more shipments are redirected from the U.S. to Europe, Sjostrom told Reuters. “We have a balance between supply and demand normally, but if there’s a lot of cheap material coming into Europe, then the prices on the European market will go down fast.”
Steel and aluminium tariffs were among the earliest put into effect by Trump. Duties of 25% on most steel and aluminium imported to the U.S. went into effect in March, and they were ratcheted up to 50% for most countries in June.
The direct impact of tariffs on SSAB’s Americas business is limited, as it produces roughly 2.4 million tons of steel in its two U.S. production facilities in Montpelier, Iowa, and Mobile, Alabama.
However, the Special Steels division, which produces specialized high-strength steels for customers around the world, is very much dependent on export, Sjostrom said. Therefore, any escalation in the trade war would impact SSAB on a global scale.
SSAB expects third-quarter shipments by the Special Steels unit to be lower than in the previous quarter, along with somewhat lower shipments for the Americas and significantly lower for the European business.
Its operating earnings fell 28% to 2.14 billion Swedish crowns ($224.93 million) in the second quarter, while analysts were expecting 2.29 billion on average.
“The bulk of the miss is Steel Europe which is (around) 30% below consensus … which has negative read-across to other European Steel names after Salzgitter’s profit warning last week,” J.P.Morgan analysts said in a note.
($1 = 9.5140 Swedish crowns)
Reporting by Marta Frąckowiak in Gdańsk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak
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