L R AS Published on Monday 30 November 2020 - n° 342 - Categories:hydrogen

Hydrogen promoters are now asking for more volume and subsidies.

After having obtained a hydrogen capacity target, pressure groups are now asking for an increase in volume and subsidies.

Several associations and pressure groups have obtained

that hydrogen be considered as the product of the future, in defiance of a great many serious and in-depth studies, including that of BloombergNEF. They come back to the charge by arguing that Europe's objective (40 GW by 2030) is too modest, that it could be more than doubled, and that the 160 to 200 TWh of electrolysis capacity could be increased to 540 TWh.

White papers, reports, studies are flourishing at the same time, indicating concerted action from the Bill Gates Coalition for Energy Sustainability (Editor's note What's in it for Europe?), from Material Economics, consultant in energy transition, from Solarpower Europe ...

According to Material Economics, if the cost of green hydrogen rises from 4 or 5 €/kg to 1.70 or 2 €/kg, if the price of carbon supported by contracts for difference is increased from 4 or 5 €/kg to 1.70 or 2 €/kg, the price of carbon supported by contracts for difference will rise to between 50 and 60 €/tonne, and if companies continue to set strict climate targets, European demand for hydrogen could reach 1.2 to 1.4 PWh. This demand would require 280 GW of additional renewable energy capacity to reach the low end of the estimate. Material Economics believes that it is misleading to consider green hydrogen as uneconomic even though its price of €4 to €5/kg is more than double that of grey hydrogen, which currently costs €1 to €2/kg, compared to the current carbon price of €25/tonne. Using hydrogen to produce a one-tonne car would only add €100 to the price of a €29,000 vehicle (NDLR there is not only steel in the price of a car. It would have to include everything, as well as changes in production equipment.).

The cost of switching to hydrogen for a power of 1.2 PWh would cost between €545 and €690 billion (€90/105 billion for electrolysers, €250/300 billion for renewable energy production capacity and €30/60 billion for transport infrastructure). The major user brands are expected to contribute €175-225 billion.

The study mentions that Chinese electrolysers can be up to 80% cheaper than those used by Europeans.

To make the project profitable, the EU will have to provide support for operating costs so that companies can buy the renewable energy they need to ensure the continuous production of hydrogen. It will also need to provide low-cost financing.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/11/27/europe-could-double-ambition-of-its-hydrogen-strategy-white-paper/

PV Magazine of 27 November

Editor's note After the adoption of the European choice in favour of hydrogen, the fishing for subsidies has begun.

The logic of the transition to hydrogen is poorly laid out. You start at the end to go up the chain of activity, whereas you should start at the beginning, the industrial process. The needs, the low prices of hydrogen between now and 2030, and of course the horizon of 2050, which nobody can foresee. The cost of this transition is calculated to the nearest cent. All this without any quantified justification.

We are already ready to ask for subsidies, but the industrial process is not available: the European technology is not perfected because the material (according to the hydrogen promoters) is up to four times more expensive than the Chinese process. Of course we may need hydrogen in the future, but let's start at the beginning and not at the end: it is a question of having a satisfactory, inexpensive and competitive technology, capable of competing with the Chinese before launching "gas factories" (that's the case) and large projects that will never be profitable on the international market.

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