In focus: European countries keeping pace with the hydrogen uptick

A closer look at this week’s highlights of the latest energy transition-related news gives us an insight into what the future may hold for the sector. With the world’s energy security at the top of nations’ agendas, more and more countries around the world are preparing to shift to renewable energy where hydrogen is being pushed to the forefront.

As the energy transition moves forward, global players continue to invest in cleaner energy sources, with hydrogen among the front-runners, as outlined in a recent whitepaper on hydrogen from Bureau Veritas.

The whitepaper underscored that the demand for this carbon-free energy source has increased threefold since 1975 and is set to grow further as the energy transition accelerates.

Moreover, Bureau Veritas emphasised that hydrogen can only fulfill its potential as a sustainable energy source if a carbon-free value chain for hydrogen generation, storage, distribution, and use is secured.

One of the countries that see great potential in hydrogen is  Türkiye, which revealed its energy plan on Thursday, 19 January 2023.

Fatih Dönmez, Türkiye’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister claims that the energy plan will enable the country to ramp up its installed electricity capacity to 189,700 megawatts in 2035 while pointing out that “it is possible to produce hydrogen by integrating electrolyzers into clean energy sources. We will increase our electrolyzer installed capacity to 2 in 2030, 5 in 2035 and 2053. We aim to increase it to 70 gigawatts.”

In regards to hydrogen, Dönmez pointed out: “The green hydrogen we obtain by using renewable energy sources through the electrolysis of water will be an important argument for our net-zero emission target. It will help decarbonise energy-intensive sectors. It will be more economical and easier to produce where it is consumed, as it will reduce transportation and storage costs.”

Dönmez also informed that talks are underway with domestic and foreign companies related to hydrogen, adding: “We regard hydrogen as the future energy carrier. In order to reach our 2053 net-zero target, studies are continuing to mix the natural gas used with clean fuels such as hydrogen and synthetic methane. Starting from 2053, we will increase the mixing ratio of hydrogen to natural gas to 12 per cent and the mixing ratio of synthetic methane to 30 per cent.”

Moving to the UK, the country considers hydrogen as a solution to the current energy crisis and the transition to low-carbon and green energy sources.

This week, a meeting, held between the UK’s Minister of State for Energy and Climate and the chief executive of UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) and its wholly owned subsidiary UK Energy Storage (UKEn), highlighted the importance of ramping up energy storage infrastructure while showcasing the ties that bind natural gas and hydrogen.

According to the company, the meeting covered all areas of UKEn’s energy storage hub project at Portland Port, for which the firm inked a lease agreement in May 2022, covering two sites at the former Royal Navy port in Dorset, with the intent to develop a planned integrated Portland Energy-Hub, centred around hydrogen-ready gas storage and a future green hydrogen generation capability.

Another giant project that hit our headlines came from the German offshore wind sector.

Transmission system operators (TSOs) GASCADE and Fluxys have submitted an application with the European Commission for the AquaDuctus project, a North Sea offshore pipeline for green hydrogen produced using electricity from offshore wind farms, to be declared Project of Common Interest (PCI).

The offshore pipeline, for which GASCADE Managing Director Christoph von dem Bussche says will become a linchpin of Germany’s and Europe’s future offshore hydrogen infrastructure, will be 400 kilometres long and is designed to collect hydrogen from multiple production sites and to include potential link-up with other international hydrogen flows through the North Sea.

GASCADE and Fluxys plan the AquaDuctus offshore pipeline as a regulated open-access infrastructure available to all future operators of hydrogen-producing wind farms, which will strengthen security of supply in the future.

“We firmly believe that the AquaDuctus offshore pipeline will be a key element of Europe’s future energy supply picture and a major advance in the drive towards climate neutrality”, said Fluxys Managing Director and CEO Pascal De Buck. 

Speaking of Germany, the country also announced this week that it will join the H2Med, a subsea hydrogen pipeline project being jointly developed by France, Spain, and Portugal.

The H2Med project, which is described as the first hydrogen corridor in the EU, was proposed in October 2022 as part of the Green Energy Corridor which will connect Spain, Portugal, and France to the European Union’s energy network.

The development of H2Med is said to be the first pillar of the European Hydrogen Backbone aiming at accelerating the decarbonisation of Europe, by creating the needed hydrogen infrastructure to enable the development of a competitive, liquid, and pan-European hydrogen market.

H2Med will have the capacity to transport up to 2 million tonnes per year (mtpa) of renewable hydrogen, which represents 10% of the forecast consumption in Europe in 2030, according to REPowerEU.

The hydrogen frenzy did not miss the shipping industry as well, as two new hydrogen vessels in the Netherlands hit major construction milestones.

The keel laying ceremony of the Neo Orbis, a pilot ship for the H2Ships project, has been held at Dutch shipbuilding company Next Generation Shipyards, marking the start of the ship’s construction.

H2Ships is the Interreg North-West Europe project that will demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of hydrogen bunkering and propulsion for shipping, identifying the conditions for successful market entry for technology.

According to project partners, the Neo Orbis will be the first ship in the world to sail electrically, propelled with hydrogen in solid form as an energy carrier – sodium borohydride – and will therefore be completely emission-free.

Staying in the shipping industry, the hull of the first-ever inland hydrogen vessel is on its way from Shanghai, ready for outfitting in the Netherlands.

The vessel, named ‘Antonie’, is being built by Dutch shipyard Concordia Damen for compatriot inland shipping company Lenten Scheepvaart.

Lenten Scheepvaart has received a EUR 4 million subsidy for the construction of the vessel from the Netherlands Governmental department of Infrastructure and Water Management. The subsidy aims to stimulate the development of the use of hydrogen as a fuel on the path toward zero emissions in inland shipping.