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This so-called blue hydrogen will help establish Shell, to capture hydrogen from offshore gas and
a sufficient market for the fuel, ready for when store the carbon produced from the process in
green hydrogen becomes cheap enough to depleted North Sea reservoirs.
compete. Italy’s pioneering work has been in the trans-
Green hydrogen is produced at electrolysers. port of hydrogen. Its national gas transmission
The EC aims to have at least 6 GW of hydrogen system operator Snam estimates that up to 7bn
electrolyser capacity up and running by 2024, cubic metres per year of hydrogen could be fed
capable of producing 1mn tonnes per year (tpy) into its grid – equal to the amount of gas needed
of the fuel. It wants to install a further 40 GW by to cover the demand of 3mn families. This would
2030. The market is to be developed using both mean a 90:10 ratio between methane and hydro-
demand- and supply-side subsidies and other gen. The company announced in July that it had
kinds of support. finished testing the world’s first hybrid hydro-
There has been a mixed response to the gen-blend turbine for gas networks, designed by
EC’s strategy from the gas industry. Some have Baker Hughes.
praised the EU executive for allowing some
room for blue hydrogen. However, others have If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
said a more level playing field between blue and Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for
green hydrogen is needed to ensure that the best NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor. Large-scale
technologies are chosen. hydrogen
Several national governments in Europe Russia’s cautious approach
have also announced hydrogen strategies. Some Russia is far less invested in decarbonisation production and
like Germany and Portugal have adopted a zero than its European peers. However, as the con-
policy on blue hydrogen, denying any of the tinent’s biggest energy supplier, it has watched demand in Europe
required incentives needed to develop it. Others developments in Europe with keen interest.
like Norway are in favour of any kind of hydro- On the one hand, large-scale hydrogen pro- poses a threat
gen as long as it is low-carbon. duction and demand in Europe poses a threat to Russia, as the
Generally, hydrogen is seen as most feasible to Russia, as the fuel will replace gas volumes.
in countries with extensive gas grids that can be On the other hand, Russia may be able to use its fuel will replace
repurposed for its transport, such as Germany, ample gas reserves and export pipelines to posi-
Italy and the Netherlands. Germany is striving tion itself as a major supplier of blue hydrogen gas volumes
to build 5 GW of hydrogen electrolyser capac- to Europe.
ity by 2030 and double this amount by 2040. It Russia’s energy ministry is currently prepar-
not only wants to create a market for the fuel ing a five-year hydrogen strategy that could see
but also become a leading supplier of hydrogen incentives for hydrogen production projects
technologies. introduced as early as next year. State companies
Early-stage production projects include a Gazprom and Rosatom are expected to take the
10-MW electrolyser that Royal Dutch Shell and lead in Russia’s hydrogen drive. Gazprom wants
the UK’s ITM Power began building last year to develop so-called turquoise hydrogen, gener-
at the Rheinland oil refinery in Wesseling. The ated from gas but using pyrolysis, where gas is
plant would be the largest of its kind in the world. passed through molten metal, producing solid
The Netherlands and Italy are developing carbon as a useful by-product.
similar initiatives. The Netherlands is primar- This will require significant research and
ily focused on green hydrogen, which it views development by the company, as so far pyrolysis
as a means of storing excess supply from its 4.5 is only used on a very small scale. Rosatom wants
GW of wind power capacity. But it also sees blue to generate hydrogen from water using electroly-
hydrogen as important for establishing a market sis, but powering the process with nuclear rather
for the fuel in the shorter term. One venture is than renewable energy. This is known as yellow
H-Vision, a plan backed by BP, ExxonMobil and hydrogen.

Week 39 01•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9