It’s Not Just About Producing Hydrogen. We Need to Create a Viable Market for It
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HYDROGEN
Where do you see the greatest potential
for green hydrogen?
Above all, in areas where using electricity directly
is difficult or inefficient.
I see significant potential in industry, particularly
in operations that already use hydrogen as a feedstock
and where hydrogen produced from fossil fuels can
gradually be replaced with green hydrogen.
Another area could be heavy-duty transport
and specific transport operations.
Hydrogen could also play an interesting role directly
in the energy sector. As solar and wind power continue
to expand, there will be more periods when we
have more electricity than we can consume at that
particular moment or store economically in batteries.
An electrolyser is one way of making use of this energy.
However, it makes no sense to use hydrogen everywhere
simply because it is green. If we can use electricity
directly, that is generally more efficient. Hydrogen
should come into play where direct electrification
begins to encounter technical or economic limits.
Does the hydrogen you produce always go
directly to the customer, or are you also interested
in further processing?
That is precisely one of the areas we are very interested
in today. In my view, we should not look at hydrogen
solely as a fuel for vehicles or as a gas that we fill
into pressure cylinders and deliver to customers.
Hydrogen is also an energy carrier and a feedstock that
can be processed further.
One route we want to explore in the future
is the production of synthetic methane.
Through methanation, green hydrogen can be
combined with carbon dioxide to produce synthetic
methane. What interests us most is the potential
to connect renewable electricity generation with gas
infrastructure and industry.
We are also interested in the possibility of blending
hydrogen into natural gas. Of course, we are aware that
there are both technical and legislative requirements
involved and that the entire system must be assessed,
including the infrastructure and end-use equipment.
Nevertheless, it is a direction we want to follow
and explore further.
What matters to me is that this gives us more options
for how to use energy. In my view, it is precisely this
flexibility that makes hydrogen more interesting than
the idea that there is only one correct way to use it.
Are there more expectations around hydrogen today
than actual business?
Partly, yes. The price of green hydrogen is still
high, infrastructure is only beginning to emerge,
and the number of actual customers remains limited.
This creates the classic problem faced by any
new technology. Customers do not want to invest
in hydrogen-based solutions unless they can be certain
that hydrogen will be available at a predictable price.
Producers, in turn, do not want to invest in large
electrolysers unless they have certainty of demand.
At this stage in the development of the hydrogen
market, public support therefore also plays
an important role. It needs to be said openly that many
current hydrogen projects, including our own, would
be very difficult to develop without public funding.
The initial investment required for electrolysers, storage
and related infrastructure is still high, and the market
is not yet sufficiently developed to justify these costs
on a purely commercial basis.
What will then determine whether green hydrogen
truly takes off?
Economics will be the deciding factor. The price
of green hydrogen must gradually come down,
while sufficient demand must develop at the same
time. European regulation and requirements
for the decarbonisation of industry and transport
will, of course, play a significant role, but in my view,
the sector cannot rely solely on subsidies in the long
term.
Support makes sense when a new technology and its
infrastructure are being established. Ultimately,
however, we need to create a standard business
environment in which there is a producer, infrastructure
and a customer, and where it makes economic sense
for all three to operate within the system.
What role will hydrogen actually play
in the energy sector?
Hydrogen will not replace electricity or compete with it;
it will become its partner. In my view, the energy system
of the future will be a combination of technologies. We
will need renewable energy sources, battery storage,
flexibility, smart demand management and, in some
areas, hydrogen as well.
At the same time, we do not have to limit ourselves
to hydrogen alone. If, in a particular case, it makes more
sense to process it further, for example into synthetic
methane, we must be able to work with that option as
well.
Today, I would say that producing
green hydrogen is not the hardest
part. Creang a viable economy
around it is much more dicult.