Conflict Over Hydrogen Energy Transition in Germany
Need for clean fuel
The shift from non-renewable energy sources and decarbonisation in the energy sector is important to achieve net zero green-house gas emissions by 2050. Hydrogen is gradually becoming a part of the clean-energy future where fuels are sustainable and affordable. While the energy transition is in a nascent stage, development of hydrogen markets and projects is gathering pace and traction.
Green hydrogen burns clean, which means that the residue is just water vapour. Clean and renewable energy reduce the risk of environmental disasters due to fuel spills or gas leaks and aid in decarbonisation, thus preventing rapid global warming in the long run. For industries that require high-temperature, such as foundries and glass and steelmakers, this could be the best bet in replacing fossil fuels. Green hydrogen can enable energy diversification in electricity systems. When excess solar and wind power floods into the grid, it can be converted into hydrogen which can be used elsewhere or even to produce electricity. Hydrogen also has potential uses in various end-use sectors, including industry, transport and distributed energy.
Energy Transition in the EU
The European Commission (EC) prioritizes the development of clean hydrogen produced from wind and solar energy. It has been established that hydrogen is a key priority to achieve the European Green Deal and Europe’s clean energy transition. Renewable electricity is expected to decarbonise a large share of the EU energy consumption by 2050. Hydrogen, in the form of a vector for renewable energy storage, alongside batteries, can ensure back up for seasonal variations and connect production locations to more distant demand centres. In its strategic vision for a climate-neutral EU published in November 2018, the share of hydrogen in Europe’s energy mix is projected to grow from the current less than 2% to 13–14% by 2050.
A progressive uptake of hydrogen solutions can lead to re-using parts of the existing natural gas infrastructure, helping to avoid stranded assets in pipelines. Furthermore, Europe is highly competitive in clean hydrogen technologies manufacturing and is well positioned to benefit from a global development of clean hydrogen as an energy carrier. Analysts estimate that clean hydrogen could meet 24% of energy world demand by 2050, with annual sales in the range of €630 billion.
Investment in hydrogen will foster sustainable growth and jobs, which will be critical in the context of recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The Commission’s recovery plan highlights the need to unlock investment in key clean technologies and value chains. It stresses clean hydrogen as one of the essential areas to address in the context of the energy transition.
Europe’s commitment to decarbonisation
In 2020, the EC unveiled a strategy to scale up green hydrogen projects across various polluting sectors like chemicals and steel, and push for clean fuels and energy efficiency to meet the EU’s net-zero emissions goal by 2050. They further announced their ambition to cut at least 55% emissions by 2030.
The European Union’s priority is to develop green hydrogen and largely deploy it for sectors hard to decarbonise or where electrification is difficult or impossible from 2030 to 2050. It has recognised the need for a phased, gradual transition from non-renewable fuels to green hydrogen.
From 2020 to 2024, hydrogen electrolysers installations of at least 6 gigawatts of renewable are to set up in the EU, with the production of up to one million tonnes of renewable hydrogen.
In the second phase, at least 40 gigawatts of renewable hydrogen electrolysers would be installed and up to ten million tonnes of renewable hydrogen would be produced in the EU, from 2025 to 2030.
Energy transition in Germany
Germany aims to maximise the use of green hydrogen — extracted from water via electrolysis powered by wind and solar energy, and phase out “grey” hydrogen — extracted mostly from natural gas — to get closer to carbon neutrality in the near future.
The German government approved a national hydrogen strategy last year. to help to decarbonize the economy and to boost efforts to meet climate targets. To prepare for the arrival of large volumes of green hydrogen, the cabinet recently approved a plan to provide for a switch of existing pipelines carrying grey hydrogen to green hydrogen, and to build entirely new pipelines for green hydrogen.
Get Suvarna Satish’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Pipeline Hydrogen
The use of hydrogen gas as a renewable and practical energy carrier depends on whether it can be distributed safely and efficiently to consumers. The current natural gas piping infrastructure could provide that means, together with pipeline monitoring companies such as SuperVision, if it is compatible. With the rapid expansion of hydrogen delivery infrastructure, natural gas pipelines are being converted to carry a blend of natural gas and hydrogen (up to 15% hydrogen) — this is a low-cost option for gas pipeline companies.
On the one hand, a network designed for natural gas can’t be used for pure hydrogen without major modifications to network components or the way it is operated and maintained. And on the other hand, which is advantageous to SuperVision’s stance in the industry, the systems used by SuperVision to monitor current gas pipelines could uncomplicatedly be used to monitor hydrogen pipelines. This is beneficial to SuperVision as a gas pipeline monitoring company and it encourages flexibility within its pipeline monitoring operations.
According to PG & E R&D and Innovation (2018) the existing natural gas transmission, distribution and end use systems could be used for mixtures of natural gas and hydrogen given appropriate adaptations. The main concern regarding hydrogen energy injection and incorporating it into a utility gas pipeline system is safety.
As a solution to this, Satellite monitoring and AI systems like those used by SuperVision, can ensure constant monitoring and integrity management of gas pipeline infrastructure. With varying physical and chemical properties, blending hydrogen and natural gas may impact infrastructure, cause unease in combustion properties, see diffusion and leakage of pipeline materials, and gas mixtures excreted into the atmosphere.
In order to achieve safety for pipeline infrastructure, monitoring and fortification of monitoring systems could prove useful in the successful injection and transportation of hydrogen. As an industry player, SuperVision remains flexible and incorporates industry advancements into its innovative and cutting-edge technology to safeguard and assess pipeline integrity and ensure accurate leakage or incident detection.
German government versus the gas industry
The natural gas industry, which eventually needs to switch to hydrogen, wants an early merger of the natural gas pipeline and hydrogen systems and disapproved of the government’s approach for being too slow. Kerstin Andreae, the chairwoman of the BDEW power and gas industry association, is of the opinion that the proposed government regulations will not allow the speedy establishment of a sustainable hydrogen infrastructure.
The government’s aim is to ensure that green hydrogen will initially flow directly to hard-to-electrify industries such as steelmaking and chemicals. But the gas industries want green hydrogen to flow via its existing natural gas grids immediately to ensure a more rapid shift to the new fuel, and also to benefit from grid usage fees. According to Andreae, a dual-track regulation prevents a coordinated development of gas and hydrogen infrastructures and does not set a reliable framework for investors and market participants.
The gas industry wishes to integrate the new alternative fuel into the existing infrastructure, which also includes gas storage caverns. In connection with this, Thomas Goessmann, chairman of the FNB group of long-distance gas shippers, stated that the aim of the transition should be such that the new hydrogen network evolves from the existing structure.
