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Low carbon hydrogen is not “competitive with other energy sources in most applications and locations” and the situation should not change unless there is “support important to close the price gap, “according to the World Energy Council.
Released on Tuesday, the analysis – which was carried out in collaboration with PwC and the US Electric Power Research Institute – raised the question of where funding for such support would come from, but also highlighted the growing profile of the sector and the positive effect it could have.
In an announcement accompanying a briefing, the London-based energy organization said “environmental and political drivers” “are sending encouraging signals to the market and attracting growing interest.” Globally, many pilot projects were under development, construction or operation, he added.
Described by the International Energy Agency as a “versatile energy carrier”, hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in sectors such as industry and transport.
It can be produced in several ways. One method involves the use of electrolysis, with an electric current dividing water into oxygen and hydrogen. If the electricity used in the process comes from a renewable source, such as wind or solar, then some call it green or renewable hydrogen.
Currently, the vast majority of hydrogen production is based on fossil fuels, and green hydrogen is expensive to produce. However, efforts are being made to reduce costs.
The US Department of Energy recently launched its Energy Earthshots initiative and said the first of these would focus on reducing the cost of “clean” hydrogen to $ 1 per kilogram (2.2 lbs) by a decade. According to the DOE, hydrogen from renewable energies now costs around $ 5 per kilogram.
For its part, the World Energy Council said some countries “are actively developing bilateral partnerships to help form global hydrogen supply chains and secure clean hydrogen supplies.”
“With the right policies and technologies to enable hydrogen to scale up, some projections suggest that it could be competitive with other solutions as early as 2030,” he added.
The industry appears to be at a crossroads, with a number of issues to be addressed as it seeks to expand. The WEC report claimed that the hydrogen economy faces a “chicken and egg problem” related to supply and demand. Both, he argued, lacked “secure volumes from each other to help establish the value chain.”
There was also a discussion of the benefit of using colors – including brown, blue, gray, and pink, to name a few – to differentiate between different production methods.
“Color has been used to simplify the conversation about the carbon footprint of hydrogen production,” the WEC report said, “but it has become more complex without universally accepted colors for specific technologies and some disagreement over it. to the color corresponding to the supply “.
The color debate demanded clarity, “because it could risk prematurely excluding certain technological pathways that could be more cost-effective and carbon efficient,” he said.
Partnerships and projects
As discussions about the future of hydrogen take place, a number of companies are starting to play a role in the sector.
Just this week, it was announced that SSE Renewables and wind turbine giant Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy had signed a memorandum of understanding focused on exploring opportunities related to the production and delivery of so-called green hydrogen.
In a statement released on Monday, SSE Renewables said the partnership would engage with Siemens Gamesa with the aim of “co-locating hydrogen production facilities at two selected onshore wind farms … from which the partners will start production and the delivery of green hydrogen by electrolysis “.
One of the wind farms will be located in Scotland, while the other will be located in Ireland. Jim Smith, Managing Director of SSE Renewables, said hydrogen “is rapidly becoming an important and exciting part of the strategy to decarbonize power generation, heavy industry and transportation, among other sectors.”
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