Too expensive and too little. There are problems with this fuel
Hydrogen is an ideal, clean and non-polluting fuel. Currently, most hydrogen is produced in technological processes based on the use and processing of fossil fuels.
The ideal solution would be to produce hydrogen cheaply through electrolysis. However, this is not easy. The question is, does hydrogen still have a future?
As Grzegorz Pawelec, Director of Regulatory and Market Intelligence, Hydrogen Europe, said during the European Economic Congress , the European Commission still believes in hydrogen .
- This is the result of our conviction about the need to decarbonize the industry. And without hydrogen, some industries cannot be decarbonized - added the specialist.
We're talking about the steel industry, about ammonia production, and heavy transport. So basically, all those industries that can't be electrified.
The European Commission knows this – said Pawelec. - As long as the goal of decarbonizing the economy appears, hydrogen appears. There is no fear that hydrogen will cease to be an important fuel in the future economy - he emphasized.
At the same time, however, the Commission sees that the costs of green hydrogen are so high that the industry alone will not be able to bear them . It is therefore necessary to look for solutions that would help reconcile these contradictions.
- We see greater openness to other solutions, those that allow achieving neutrality. Currently, the key issue is the issue of high costs - Pawelec emphasized.
Paweł Bielski, vice president of the country's largest chemical company - Grupa Azoty , also pointed this out. He reminds us that almost all challenges and problems related to greening production have one source: the RED II directive (referring to closed waste management and the fact that waste should be used to produce full-value raw materials). Its aim is also to ensure that the increase in green hydrogen production is accompanied by an increase in renewable energy production capacity.
However, as the manager noted, the plans imposed by the Union are very ambitious, even too ambitious. The European fertilizer industry has already pointed out the unrealistic possibilities of meeting the EU guidelines .
- Today we see that these assumptions are not achievable. We are not avoiding transformation and greening of production, but the transition through hydrogen is a very difficult process to implement - said Bielski.
- If we look at domestic demand for hydrogen, we are talking about around 200,000 tons of hydrogen per year. Meanwhile, at the end of 2023, green hydrogen production in the entire European Union amounted to around 25,000 tons. That is, an eighth of what we need to replace - the manager pointed out.
It is no wonder that the industry is calling for the postponement of greening hydrogen on a mass scale. Moreover, even if the process were implemented, it would drive up the prices of fertilizers (hydrogen is used, among other things, to produce ammonia).
In practice, this would mean that some customers would not want to buy them. There would also be concerns about an even greater influx of fertilizers from companies that do not have to comply with the restrictive conditions of the European Union.
17th European Economic Congress
Our largest fuel company, Orlen , has ambitious hydrogen plans.
As Grzegorz Jóźwiak, director of the Hydrogen Technologies and Synthetic Fuels Office at the concern, said, hydrogen should be treated as a balanced alternative, it is not the Holy Grail .
- Hydrogen is not only a help in achieving climate goals. It gives us something more: the possibility of energy diversification. We are becoming independent from external supplies, in times of crisis it allows us to use the potential of renewable energy sources or, in the future, nuclear energy - said Jóźwiak.
The Orlen Group sees hydrogen being used in four areas. The first is the decarbonization of refineries. The second is the fertilizer industry, although if this industry is to be competitive, it must allow for so-called technological neutrality. The third area is the production of synthetic fuels. The fourth is heavy, urban transport, i.e. the transport that is difficult to decarbonize with other fuels.
As the manager admits, Orlen operates in these four areas, and some of them are particularly interesting. One such area is certainly the production of synthetic fuels, especially for aviation. An interesting element of the activities may also be the import of "green" ammonia. Especially since there is a shortage of green hydrogen in Europe.
The steel industry is also interested in the use of hydrogen in technological processes.
- Traditional steel or pig iron smelting is based on coal. This is a large CO2 emission. We want to replace coal with hydrogen. For now, we are using the so-called blue hydrogen. The process itself is practically free of CO2 emissions - said Michał Pietrek, vice president, sales director of Izostal. The steel mills are heading in this direction, although - as the manager said - this is only the initial stage.
There are already attempts to produce "green" steel , but on a very small scale. This is primarily due to high costs and very high energy demand. According to steelworkers' estimates, it will be several times, even higher, than actually available.
- The direction has already been chosen. Hydrogen furnaces are being installed in steel mills. However, we are still at an early stage - added Pietrek.
The situation on the hydrogen market is being monitored by Entsog (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas). After all, it is the network that would most likely be responsible for the transmission of this fuel in the future.
However, as Piotr Kuś, CEO of Entsog, said, this will not happen overnight. What's more, there are many indications that operators will first start transmitting biogas, biomethane, and only later hydrogen.
There is a lot of talk about so-called admixtures. However, even in this matter, operators must consider how to do it. A year ago, the gas-hydrogen package was adopted, which prepares the foundations for the creation of a future hydrogen market in the European Union.
One of the solutions being analyzed is the construction of a hydrogen network.Interestingly, Ryszard Pawlik, head of the Brussels office of the Polish Electricity Committee, was cautious about the idea of admixtures. As he pointed out, there is a shortage of green hydrogen . Creating admixtures would not be the best use of this fuel. Therefore, where green hydrogen should go should be prioritized.
Our operator Gaz-System is also working on hydrogen transmission. As Agnieszka Ozga, director of the Energy Transformation Division, said, hydrogen transmission is being analyzed.
Last year, the company estimated the level of interest in projects related to the transport of hydrogen via the transmission network, both from the perspective of producers and recipients.
Thanks to the research, the company will identify market needs, which will allow market participants to develop their business activities in the coming years.
The surveys submitted during the study show that the volume of hydrogen production will increase from 2029. From 2030, there will be a significant increase in the amount of hydrogen produced, while from 2040 the production volume will remain at a constant level (1.11 million tonnes).
On the other hand, as Ozga pointed out, it is still not certain which raw materials will be used to implement the decarbonization strategy.
wnp.pl
