'Daunting' requirements ahead of EU hydrogen targets detailed in new report - H2 View

‘Daunting’ requirements ahead of EU hydrogen targets detailed in new report | Policy | H2 View

A new report by Worley and Princeton University has detailed the “daunting” requirements ahead of meeting Europe’s goal of producing 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen domestically by 2030.

The From Ambition to Reality 3 – steps to accelerate Net Zero Delivery report said that Europe’s hydrogen ambition will not be satisfied entirely by “small, bespoke projects.”

“An undertaking of such scale, speed and complexity can be achieved only with the emergence of an era of hydrogen mega-projects,” the report said.

Under the EU’s REPowerEU plan, released last May (2022), the bloc set the goal of establishing capacity to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable or green hydrogen by 2030, while importing a further 10 million tonnes by the same date.

Based on the IEA’s hydrogen project database, Europe boasts just 20,000 tonnes of annual renewable hydrogen production capacity, setting a tall order for the region to up its production in just seven years.

The report outlined one possible technology portfolio that could meet the 10 million tonne aspirations, once again portraying the scale of the challenge:

- 39,000MW of PEM electrolysers
- 36,000MW of Alkaline electrolysers
- 6 million tonnes of aboveground storage
- Five million tonnes of strategic reserves
- Five million tonnes of line packing
- 36,631MW of onshore wind
- 109,893MW of offshore wind
- 36,631MW of solar
- 109GW of new grid capacity requiring connection to the transmission grid
- 28,00km of hydrogen pipelines
- 107,166 million litres of demineralised water per year
- 535,830 million litres of seawater per year

Those requirements, based on Worley and Princeton’s estimations will require a four-fold increase in annual offshore wind capacity additions every year through to 2030, a 35% increase in desalination capacity additions in seven years, and the potential connection of over 100GW of new renewable generation to the electric grid.

“In summary, while the EU’s renewable hydrogen ambition is just one part of a much larger infrastructure plan, its requirements are indeed daunting,” the report read.

In terms of projects, the report estimated that 25 hydrogen projects with 3GW of electrolyser capacity with output of 400,000 tonnes per year need to reach commercial operation by 2030.

However, according to Worley and Princeton, the timeline required to deliver projects of that scale is likely to be a minimum of eight years and timelines beyond 10 years are “probable.”

The report recommends a “radical but responsible” change to accelerate the hydrogen industry, calling for:

- Capital discipline;
- Broadening value from purely financial;
- Enabling options by keeping all technologies on the table;
- Standardising between projects to provide certainty to supply chains;
- creating new partnerships at a new level to share learnings and intellectual property;
- and using digital platforms to enhance all of the above shifts.

“Our findings highlight the urgency of strategic and substantial actions within the renewable hydrogen sector,” said Dr. Paul Ebert, Group Director Sustainability Leadership at Worely. “The proposed initiatives go significantly beyond current practices seen within the industry, but this new level of collaboration and support will be essential for driving investment faster, steering the region towards both sustainable and environmentally conscious energy production.”

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