Page 6 - EurOil Week 23

EurOil COMMENTARY EurOil

Germany sets out to be

hydrogen leader

Germany has introduced a new hydrogen strategy, but the gas industry are

frustrated that blue hydrogen has been omitted

GERMANY GERMANY has set out to become a world leader German gas firm Wintershall Dea, which
in developing hydrogen as an energy source, and teamed up with a technology institute last year
WHAT: has adopted a new national hydrogen strategy. to research ways of separating hydrogen from
Germany’s government But the country’s gas industry, while welcoming methane, complained in late May that the gov-
has adopted a new the government’s embrace of hydrogen, has said ernment is “losing sight of what the actual objec-
hydrogen strategy. the strategy should focus on deriving the fuel tive is.”
from gas and not just renewable energy. “For our ambitious climate targets and
WHY: Berlin introduced a post-coronavirus hydrogen strategy to succeed, it is not so
The country is well- (COVID-19) economic recovery package earlier important whether the hydrogen comes from
positioned to be a this month that set aside €7bn ($7.8bn) for devel- natural gas or renewables: what is important
hydrogen frontrunner, oping hydrogen energy and lowering emission. is that its production is climate-neutral,” CEO
thanks to its vast gas Its target is to create 5 GW of hydrogen power Mario Mehren said. “If we want to ensure the
network that can be capacity by 2030 and to double this amount by rapid development of a functioning and viable
repurposed. 2040. hydrogen market we cannot leave any potential
In a strategy paper released on June 3, the technologies on the shelf. Otherwise we risk
WHAT NEXT: government said it strived to make Germany falling into a new subsidies trap, and thus the
Including a wider array “the world’s leading supplier of state-of-the-art failure of the strategy.”
of methods for producing hydrogen technology.” The hydrogen strategy German gas industry group Zukunft Erdgas
hydrogen could was approved by ministers on June 10. (ZE) praised the government for abandoning
accelerate progress and Germany is well-positioned to be a frontrun- the “utopia” of full electrification and its support
drive down costs. ner in developing hydrogen energy, thanks to its for hydrogen-compatible heating devices. But
vast network of gas pipelines that can eventually it warned that only with “an open technology
be repurposed to carry hydrogen instead. The approach can the large quantities of hydrogen
government’s announcement won praise from that we will need in the future be produced at
Uniper, a leading German power producer that the best price.”
is seeking to make its generating activities car- “We therefore hope that this negligent nar-
bon-neutral by 2035. rowing to a production route will still be cor-
“The coalition recognises the important role rected. Otherwise Germany threatens to lose
hydrogen will play in the energy future. Commit- touch with hydrogen production,” it said.
ting to an important initial financial package and Germany’s energy mix is already undergoing
tax exemptions is of the essence to support the sweeping changes. The country has pledged to
start of the hydrogen economy, an essential ele- start decommissioning all of its nuclear power
ment for developing a sustainable energy future,” plants (NPPs) by the end of 2022, under a policy
CEO Andreas Schierenbeck commented. “This direction launched after the 2011 Fukushima
is the right signal at the right time.” nuclear disaster. It also aims to phase out coal-
However, the strategy paper states that “only fired power by 2038, and could potentially bring
hydrogen produced on the basis of renewable this target forward.
energies is sustainable in the long term,” oth- Germany is pinning its hopes on hydrogen as
erwise known as green hydrogen. This type of a key fuel in its future. But it stands at a cross-
hydrogen is derived from water using electroly- roads between using only renewables to produce
sis, powered by renewable energy sources. this fuel, or keeping gas as a central part of its
However, the gas industry has called on energy mix. The current government shows no
the government not to rule out blue hydrogen, sign of backtracking on its green hydrogen-only
which can be produced from gas using steam position. But future ones (the next federal elec-
methane reforming and methane pyrolysis. tions are due to take place in 2021) could adopt
If coupled with carbon capture technologies, a strategy that is inclusive of a wider array of
these processes can be just as environmentally technologies. This approach could accelerate
friendly, the industry claims. progress and drive down energy costs. ™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 23 11•June•2020