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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