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Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Why Is Europe So Obsessed With Inexperienced Hydrogen?


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The inexperienced hydrogen market has seen loads of stumbles ever since innovators, traders, and governments started exploring the thought of deploying renewable electrical energy to push hydrogen fuel from water as a substitute of extracting it from pure fuel or coal. Nonetheless, curiosity runs excessive particularly in Europe, the place a home inexperienced hydrogen business is rising together with a number of wheels in movement to determine factors of entry from North Africa, North America, and Ukraine.

Inexperienced Hydrogen & The Ukraine Connection

The widespread denominator, in fact, is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who single-handedly motivated the governments of Europe to cease relying on Russian fuel after he ordered his armies to invade Ukraine in February of 2022.

Even because the unprovoked assault upended life in Ukraine, plans had been below approach to leverage the nation’s huge wind and photo voltaic vitality sources for electrolysis techniques, to supply inexperienced hydrogen for export to Europe. A wholesome inexperienced business would assist Ukraine make the case for admission to the European Union as a contributor to the economic system, not a supplicant in want of help.

CleanTechnica caught up with the motion after Ukraine Particular Consultant of the Minister of International Affairs on Financial Diplomacy, Oleksandr Riepkin, took be aware of the potential for leveraging photo voltaic vitality in an op-ed.

“Riepkin famous that the southern cities of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolayiv, Odesa and Kherson share the identical stage of sunshine as Italy, if no more, so he pitched a plan for producing inexperienced hydrogen from water,” CleanTechnica noticed (learn the entire op-ed right here).

Riepkin penned the op-ed again in June of 2022, and plans for the Ukraine-EU Hydrogen Hall have firmed up since then. Earlier in the present day, key stakeholders signed a proper Memorandum of Understanding to that impact, together with Gasoline TSO of Ukraine, Stadtwerke München, Wien Energie, Open Grid Europe, bayernets, NET4GAS, eustream, CWP Europe, Hydrogen Ukraine, and UDPR Hydrogen, amongst others.

This growth comes just some weeks after the scheduled expiration of a fuel transmission settlement between Russia and Ukraine. The settlement predated the warfare and was set to finish on January 1 of this yr. Ukraine declined to resume the settlement for apparent causes.

Conclusion of the settlement has stopped the Russian agency Gazprom from transiting its fuel by Ukraine to produce Moldova, Slovakia, Austria, and Italy.

Inexperienced Hydrogen & The US Connection

As reported by the information group UKRInform, the plan is to supply inexperienced hydrogen in Ukraine and repurpose the prevailing pipeline community in Europe to produce off-takers in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany.

Now that US President Trump has adopted by on his pledge to crush renewable vitality stakeholders right here within the US, it’s additionally price noting that traders will merely pack up and spend money on new job-creating ventures elsewhere. US-based stakeholders with a worldwide footprint have already noticed wealthy alternatives for renewable vitality growth in Ukraine. For instance, UKRInform lists the Invoice Gates-backed investor group Breakthrough Vitality and the US agency McKinsey & Firm amongst supporters of the Ukraine-EU hydrogen venture.

Moreover, the US monetary agency BlackRock has been instrumental in planning a $15 billion fund for the reconstruction of Ukraine, together with JP Morgan. As reported final yr, neither agency is amassing a payment for its advisory companies.

On high of that, the US Division of Vitality is credited with advising vitality planners in Ukraine on a grid modernization and resiliency plan previous to the Russian invasion, enabling the the nation to detach itself from Russia and coordinate with the European grid inside a matter of weeks following Putin’s ill-fated try to realize management of the Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv on February 22 of 2022.

UKRInform cites GTSOU CEO Dmytro Lyppa, who calls the Ukraine-EU venture “a testomony to our dedication to sustainable vitality and regional cooperation.”

For the file, water electrolysis is just not the one various to pure fuel. Renewable hydrogen can be extracted from biomass. UKRInform reminds everybody that final February Ukraine and the EU signed a Memorandum of Strategic Partnership protecting biomethane in addition to hydrogen and different artificial gases.

No Extra Inexperienced Hydrogen For The US

So, the place does this go away renewable vitality traders within the US? Not in a cheerful place, that’s for positive. Some had been relying on the $7 billion Regional Clear Hydrogen Hubs program to kickstart the home inexperienced hydrogen business, however that’s an open query now. This system was administered by the Vitality Division with funding from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation. The legislation stipulated a carveout benefiting pure fuel stakeholders, however the principle concept was to diversify the home hydrogen provide chain and leverage native sources to coordinate producers with transporters, storage services, and off-takers. (see tons extra Hydrogen Hubs background right here).

The Vitality Division put the ending touches on this system within the waning months of the Biden administration. Now every thing is up within the air till the courts kind out whether or not or not President Trump has the authority to screech federal renewable vitality applications to a halt by government order.

That’s too unhealthy for traders in Texas, who had been relying on the Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub to supply a foothold in Europe’s rising inexperienced hydrogen market. Positive, producers in Texas can nonetheless squeeze hydrogen from pure fuel and export that stuff, however they will’t rely on the European market. Ukraine is just not the one nation with huge export plans within the works.

A fast search of the Intertubes reveals that Canada is laying plans to export inexperienced hydrogen to Europe by Belgium, and the Sultanate of Oman is engaged on an settlement to make use of Amsterdam as a port of entry for its house grown inexperienced hydrogen.

In the meantime, the European Fee is supporting the SouthH2 plan for importing inexperienced hydrogen from Algeria and Tunisia, with Italy being the port of entry for markets in Austria and Germany. As with the Ukraine hall, the SouthH2 pipeline will repurpose present transportation networks.

Other than imports, stakeholders in Europe are busy establishing regional inexperienced hydrogen hubs of their very own, and traders from exterior of Europe are additionally taking be aware. The UAE agency Masdar, for instance, is partnering with the French agency Lhyfe on a string of inexperienced hydrogen services in Europe.

The purpose is that inexperienced hydrogen is occurring in Europe. Whether or not or not it makes financial sense these days is one other matter solely. As I’ve realized from stakeholders in one other up-and-coming renewable vitality subject, when vitality shoppers are in a bind, value comes second. For the nations of Europe, Russia’s rampage by Ukraine is a transparent warning that low cost pure fuel must take a again seat to resiliency and nationwide safety.

It’s too unhealthy that the US inexperienced hydrogen business will probably be sitting out the European market. Right here’s hoping they will merely survive the subsequent 4 years.

Observe me by way of LinkTree, or @tinamcasey on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

Picture (cropped): Inexperienced hydrogen from Ukraine will probably be circulate into Europe by an present pipeline community, leveraging the nation’s wind and photo voltaic vitality sources (courtesy of Hydrogen Ukraine).



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