HYDROGEN

and how do you plan to cope with the

gradual shift from traditional coal

resources in the region?

We see the whole decarbonisation

process as a long-term process, divided

into several stages or scenarios: short, mid

and long-term. As such, CEETe is designed

is primarily intended

“ CEETe

to be a polygon that will

demonstrate different routes

of hydrogen production with

support for the implementation of

the outputs put into practice.

”

to take us through decarbonisation in

a comprehensive way.

In the short-term scenario, we are still

working with technologies that are

available today, with a high priority on

increasing their efficiency while reducing

the emissions burden, i.e. the negative

impact on the environment.

In the mid-term scenario, we think

predominantly

about

low-carbon

technologies in a great interconnection

with central energy represented by

a significant share of nuclear energy. In

the long-term scenario, we work mainly

with the concept of community energy

with a high priority towards the use of

hydrogen technologies, hence our close

connection to the Moravian-Silesian

Hydrogen Cluster. We perceive hydrogen

as a medium that will help us to increase

the energy self-sufficiency and raw

material independence of the Czech

Republic in the European context, while

the main goal in the case of hydrogen is its

production in the Czech Republic, not only

with the use of renewable resources, but

also with the support of thermochemical

conversion from alternative fuels or waste.

This complex solution divided into

individual scenarios is ready not only for

the Czech Republic, but in cooperation

with other foreign university centres and

industrial partners we expect to create

further follow-up "copies" of CEETe with

their distribution in the EU and globally.

Will it be possible to come to CEETe

and refuel e.g. a bus or some part of

the region's mobile infrastructure on

a hydrogen filler? Are you planning to

export hydrogen to companies from here?

CEETe includes a hydrogen refuelling station,

which will be able to refuel passenger

cars and larger vehicles, including buses.

However, in terms of the volume of hydrogen

we produce, we do not anticipate refuelling

with hydrogen on a commercial basis.

CEETe is primarily intended to be

a polygon that will demonstrate

different routes of hydrogen production

with support for the implementation

of the outputs into practice. A great

emphasis is also put on the educational

aspect of CEETe. We would like to

demonstrate the possibility of energy

transformation in an understandable

way, so that we have wrapped it in

an attractive coat. We want to attract

the attention of society, to arouse its

interest in decarbonisation policy and to

convince the public that decarbonisation

is real and greatly needed.

Lastly, could you please sum up which

partners were involved in the creation

of CEETe?

The entire project was created thanks to

the support of the Ministry of Industry and

Trade, which launched a special call for

infrastructure services, and the Integrated

Territorial Investments of the Ostrava

Metropolitan Area (ITI Ostrava for short),

and was the main source of funding.

We received great support from

the Moravian-Silesian Region, without

which we would not have been able to

complete CEETe, because we started

planning and implementing it at a time that

Which specific technologies and

laboratories can CEETe offer to companies?

The first important laboratory is

the Thermochemical Conversion Laboratory,

which at the moment has basic components

for plasma gasification, pyrolysis processes

and for thermal processes in general, with

which we will investigate different ways

of using alternative fuels for conversion

into useful forms of energy. In the case of

plasma gasification, this is a new route for

the production of high purity hydrogen.

Another

important

component

is

the Hydrogen Technology Laboratory,

which is a research base primarily for

testing different purities of hydrogen and

their effect on the lifetime of the different

components of the hydrogen process chain.

An essential component for energy

conversion and overall energy distribution

is Artificial Intelligence, which is currently

undergoing significant development.

At this point, it is very difficult to predict

where its use will go in the next 10 years,

but the entire CEETe infrastructure is set

up for complete autonomous control

of all CEETe processes, while of course

addressing all security risks and threats.

was not easy. The covid and post-covid

period began, which made the situation

very complicated for us, because

everything that was originally planned

multiplied financially, first in the order of

units, later in the order of tens of percent.

The Moravian-Silesian Region helped us

significantly to complete the idea in its

original technical form.

During the establishment of CEETe, we

have made great use of information sharing

and cooperation with other Universities

and companies within the Czech Republic,

especially under the banner of the National

Centre for Energetics, whose aim is to

help develop a comprehensive strategy

based on modern sustainable energy for

the entire Czech Republic.

We are investing a large amount of our

own resources in CEETe, which clearly

proves our confidence in the idea and

the need for CEETe, and is embedded

in the strategy of our University Institute

CEET.

Mr. Director, thank you for the interview.

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