- Retrofitting gas pipelines key for blue hydrogen.
- Energy companies to lift hydrogen investments by 2025.
- Clear policies, frameworks lift investments.
A Platts news source by James Burgess says that Infrastructure biggest hurdle to hydrogen economy as investments gather pace, according to DNV.
What do energy professionals say?
Energy professionals say a lack of infrastructure investment, along with cost, is the main barrier to expanding the hydrogen economy, according to a report from risk management and verification company DNV published July 1.
- A large majority of senior energy professionals conduct a survey on hydrogen economy.
- They say that repurposing existing infrastructure would be essential.
- It will help develop a large-scale low-carbon and renewable hydrogen economy.
- The report is titled as “Rising to the challenge of a hydrogen economy.”
Realistic goals
Almost three quarters of those surveyed said current hydrogen ambitions “tend to underestimate the practical limitations and barriers,” DNV said.
Though almost half of the energy professionals said the majority of national and organizational goals were realistic.
What are the other findings from the report?
The report found that for those not currently invested or involved in hydrogen, a lack of infrastructure was the main reason for focusing elsewhere.
New infrastructure would be required for the rollout of green hydrogen, produced from the electrolysis of water powered by renewables.
Lessons could be learnt from the rapid rise in renewables capacity in recent years, particularly in Europe.
A large majority of those surveyed thought the re-purposing of gas networks would be needed to develop blue hydrogen, produced from natural gas with carbon capture and storage.
Clear framework
“Our research work is showing that the majority of our assets are indeed capable,” project director for hydrogen at the UK’s National Grid Antony Green said in the report. “It has shown us that there are really no showstoppers to re-purposing our natural gas network for hydrogen transmission.”
A strong regulatory framework and clear policies have also helped guide hydrogen investments.
“It really helps to have clear policy frameworks that are transparent on long-term goals,” Shell Norway business opportunity manager for hydrogen Kristina Wittmeyer said.
“The targets that are set, for example, by the EU, provide greater predictability, which helps in commercial decisions that drive investments in hydrogen.”
The story of supply and demand
Almost half of companies were surveyed which has investments in the hydrogen space. They feel that the energy carrier would account for over 10% of their revenues by 2025.
It would be up significantly from just 8% of companies currently with over a tenth of revenue from hydrogen.
Hydrogen accounts for just 1% of revenue at present for almost half of the companies surveyed.
Many companies entered hydrogen space in last 5 years
A large majority of energy companies entered the hydrogen space only in the last five years, with over half becoming involved in just the last three years, the report found.
Demand is similarly expected to rise sharply in the coming years.
This is due to a third of hydrogen consumers expecting hydrogen to account for a tenth of energy and feedstock spending by 2025, from just 9% of companies now.
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Source: Platts
