Page 11 - FSUOGM Week 15 2021

FSUOGM POLICY FSUOGM

Russia eyes 20-25% of global

hydrogen market by 2035

RUSSIA RUSSIA is looking to account for 20-25% of the extract the fuel from natural gas using reforming,
global market for hydrogen trading by 2035, while capturing CO2 emissions from the process
Russia wants to exploit Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin com- and storing them in depleted gas reservoirs and
its close proximity to mented on April 12. other subsoil structures. Another production
emerging hydrogen Russian energy companies are eager not to method using gas that Gazprom is researching
markets in Europe and be left behind by the energy transition taking is pyrolysis, which would involve splitting meth-
Asia to establish itself place in Europe and other areas of the world. As ane into hydrogen and solid carbon that is both
as a key supplier. such, they are looking at ways Russia can export environmentally clean and a useful product for
clean hydrogen energy to help other countries industry.
decarbonise. Russia has ample gas reserves and well-de-
“Our goal is to obtain 20-25% of global veloped gas infrastructure that could be used to
hydrogen trade ... It is still difficult to assess this develop these types of hydrogen.
goal in numbers – it can be 1-2mn tpy under Alternatively, the country could harness its
a low scenario, or up to 7mn tonnes in 2035 if wind and solar resources to manufacture green
there is active, fast development,” Sorokin said. hydrogen from water using renewable ener-
Russia approved a new energy strategy last gy-powered electrolysis. But Russia’s renewables
year, under which the country will seek to exploit sector is still in its infancy and would need to be
its close proximity to emerging hydrogen mar- scaled up significantly for the task.
kets in Europe and Asia to establish itself as a key An alternative is so-called yellow hydrogen,
supplier. It envisaged exporting up to 200,000 tpy also produced using electrolysis but using nuclear
of the fuel by 2024 and as much as 2mn tpy by rather than wind or solar as its energy source.
2035. Gazprom and Rosatom are developing sev-
Sorokin’s forecasts are more bullish, pro- eral pilot projects to produce and transport
jecting a growth in Russian exports to 1mn tpy hydrogen, and Novatek, Rosneft and Lukoil have
in 2024 to 7mn tpy in 2035 and somewhere also expressed interest in its development. Russia
between 7.9 and 33.4mn tpy by 2050, depend- could potentially repurpose its existing gas pipe-
ing on how quickly the global hydrogen market lines to export hydrogen, steadily increasing the
develops. hydrogen content of the flow at the expense of
There are several ways in which Russia could natural gas. It could alternative liquefy hydrogen
produce hydrogen for export. First, it could and ship it overseas. ™

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