Page 8 - AfrElec Week 50 2020
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AfrElec HYDROGEN AfrElec
Green hydrogen has potential to
compete with fossil fuels by 2030
GLOBAL HYDROGEN produced with renewable elec- fossil fuels in combination with carbon capture
tricity, known as green hydrogen, could com- and storage (CCS).
pete on costs with fossil fuel alternatives by 2030, The production cost for green hydrogen is
the International Renewable Energy Agency determined by the renewable electricity price,
(IRENA) has claimed in a new report. the investment cost of the electrolyser and its
A combination of falling costs for solar and operating hours.
wind power, improved performance as well as Renewables have already become the cheap-
economies of scale for electrolysers could make est source of power in many parts of the world,
it possible for green hydrogen to compete with with auctions reaching record price lows of
fossil fuels in all areas of the energy and indus- below $20 per MWh.
trial sectors by 2030. While low-cost electricity is a necessary con-
The fuel will also play a crucial role in limiting dition for competitive green hydrogen, invest-
temperature rises to 1.5 C. ment costs for electrolysis facilities must fall
IRENA said that governments must promote significantly too.
a range of strategies in order to reduce the cost of IRENA’s new study identifies key strategies
electrolysers by 40% in the short term and by up and policies to reduce costs for electrolysers
to 80% in the long term. through innovation and improved performance
“Renewable hydrogen can be a game-changer aiming to scale up electrolysers from today’s
in global efforts to decarbonise our economies,” megawatt to multi-gigawatt (GW) levels.
said Francesco La Camera, Director-General of Standardisation and mass manufacturing of
IRENA. the electrolyser stacks, efficiency in operation as
“Levelling the playing field to close the cost well as the optimisation of material procurement
gap between fossil fuels and green hydrogen is and supply chains will be equally important to
necessary. Cost-competitive green hydrogen bring down costs.
can help us build a resilient energy system that For that, today’s manufacturing capacity of
thrives on modern technologies and embraces less than 1 GW would have to massively grow
innovative solutions fit for the 21st century.” beyond 100 GW in the next 10 to 15 years.
Green hydrogen could play a critical role in In the best-case scenario, using low-cost
decarbonisation strategies, particularly so where renewable electricity at $20 per MWh in large,
direct electrification is challenging in harder-to- cost-competitive electrolyser facilities could pro-
abate sectors, such as steel, chemicals, long-haul duce green hydrogen at a competitive cost with
transport, shipping and aviation. blue hydrogen already today.
However, regulations, market design and If rapid scale-up and aggressive electrolyser
the costs of power and electrolyser production deployment take place in the next decade, green
are still major barriers to the uptake of green hydrogen could then start competing on costs
hydrogen. with blue hydrogen by 2030 in many countries,
Today, green hydrogen is 2-3 times more making it cheaper than other low-carbon alter-
expensive than blue hydrogen, produced from natives before 2040, IRENA’s analysis shows.
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 50 17•December•2020
