Posted on 31 Oct 2022
Growing energy use in renewable hydrogen production and the need for new infrastructure, integration and storage systems are major hurdles for policymakers and financial markets in supporting demand for a new green economy. So said participants at EURACTIV hydrogen in steelmaking conference attended by Kallanish.
According to Ruud Kempener, member of the working group on the European Strategy for Energy System Integration, the European Commission manages three packages to support hydrogen development. “The EC is focused on giving legal certainty to production, infrastructure as well as trading and licensing processes of the hydrogen value chain,” said Kempener.
The proposals to decarbonise gas markets, promote hydrogen and reduce methane emissions are already in the discussion phase, he added. The legislation is trying to answer the main problems and to lay the foundations for the new hydrogen economy as from 2023.
With the move towards mass hydrogen production, major changes are being seen in industrial value chains and the energy sector, pushed by higher climate change policy goals, observed Eurofer energy committee chairwoman Bianca Wien Prado.
“The steel industry is looking for a vigorous market that is capable of delivering low-carbon, renewable hydrogen in large volumes and in the shortest possible time. We are at the beginning of a big challenge in the production of hydrogen, as there is currently no hydrogen economy and no basic infrastructure to deliver it to end consumers,” she commented.
Prado, who is also head of EU regulatory affairs at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, pointed out that the steel sector urgently needs a legal framework to assess and advance investment towards decarbonisation goals.
Green energy supply for hydrogen production is also a big challenge. “In 2030, the steel industry is expected to consume almost 2 million tonnes of hydrogen. Producing these levels of hydrogen requires about 165 terawatt-hours of electricity, which is nearly double Belgium’s annual consumption. Meanwhile, in 2050, the market should absorb 5.5m t of hydrogen, which means having an electricity potential of 400 TWh, something that now seems very incredible,” Prado explained.
Other conference participants agreed that EU countries should support more steelmakers’ projects based on the use of green hydrogen. In the transition phase towards the green economy, state aid must solve problems such as the creation of a competitive network for the transport of the alternative fuel. This is to avoid the relocation of some steel sector activities to sites with greater access to hydrogen. An imbalance in EU energy prices must also be avoided, participants added.
They expressed concern that investment in the emerging hydrogen market is however largely conditioned by differences in legislation between EU countries, which makes compliance with the decarbonisation roadmap an even greater challenge for Europe.
Source:Kallanish
