| Hydrogen
The tipping point: are we there yet?
Research from consulting company Delta-EE suggests that 2022 “could be the year where policy support creates a viable business case for green hydrogen”, while piston engine and gas turbine suppliers and operators increasingly aim for hydrogen readiness
According to Delta-EE’s clean hydrogen projects database, 115 projects – with a combined potential electrolyser capacity of 2138 MW – are due to become operational in 2022 and 2023. But only 37% (794 MW) of these projects have reached final investment decision or been awarded public funding in Europe and the UK. Many of these projects are dependent upon positive legislative indications and incentives from respective governments.
Incentives such as the UK Hydrogen Business Model and the wider Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, expected to launch in early 2022 and 2023, the UK Hydrogen Strategy, aiming for regulatory frameworks to be in place in the early 2020s, and the EU’s RED II delegated act and Hydrogen and Decarbonized Gas Package, are expected to be key policy drivers.
If the necessary policy environment is achieved, 2022 could represent a tipping point for a flurry of activity. With over 6 GW of announced projects now planned by the end of 2024, according to Delta-EE’s pipeline, the focus must shift to providing a policy environment that allows these projects to reach reality, the company says.
Delta-EE’s research identifies the Hydrospider AG project in Switzerland as an example of legislative frameworks providing a viable environment for commercial hydrogen activity, as hydrogen fuel cell heavy goods vehicles are exempt from road tax on commercial vehicles, allowing them to approach cost competitiveness with diesel vehicles.
Dr Robert Bloom, service manager for Delta-EE’s Global Hydrogen Intelligence Service, comments on the potential for a regulatory tipping point: “To date, many green hydrogen projects have been planned and announced in Europe, but relatively few have reached final investment decision. Our research suggests that 2022 could be the year where we see the necessary policy environment develop that could drive projects in the tens or even hundreds of megawatts towards coming online. “Long-term incentives and long-term policy will allow de-risking of projects. This will give developers confidence that project finances are viable, and customers can be provided with a cost-effective solution leading to the green lighting of a number of the planned projects in the UK and Europe.”
Other key findings from Delta-EE’s series of hydrogen reports reflect the evolving landscape of green hydrogen demand. Total green hydrogen demand within Europe is expected to
Above: Visualisation of RWE/Kawasaki hydrogen-fuelled power plant, Lingen
rise from around 9900 tonnes per year in 2021 to over 620 000 tonnes per year in 2026. In 2021, demand from the industrial sector outstripped that of transport for the first time.
The industrial sector is a prime target for clean hydrogen and Delta-EE predicts it will account for over 60% of green hydrogen demand by 2026. There are currently 15 industrial projects awaiting final investment decisions or public funding, linked to potentially 894 MW electrolyser capacity due to come online in 2022 and 2023, Delta-EE estimates.
Plethora of projects
In recent months we have seen a plethora of projects announced by gas turbine and piston engine technology providers aiming towards hydrogen readiness.
Norwegian piston engine manufacturer Bergen Engines (recently sold by Rolls-Royce to Langley Holdings), for example, says it has launched a comprehensive test programme aimed at transitioning towards “zero carbon emission engines, allowing a gradual transition from liquid natural gas to 100% green hydrogen fuel, as and when it becomes commercially available.” The company reports that the first tests on a B-Series Bergen gas engine, running on a blend of 15 % hydrogen and 85 % natural gas (by volume), “have been successfully completed without any hardware adjustments.” It was confirmed that the power output was
maintained according to specification at all load levels while the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions were reduced. Lower unburned hydrocarbon levels and methane slip were “also proven.”
Bergen Engines says it is “aiming to have a commercial solution in the market that will accept hydrogen content of up to 60%, and solutions that can be further developed to accept 100% for new engines to come.”
Meanwhile, the aim is that the current Bergen gas engine fleet will “take low levels of hydrogen without any hardware changes” and when “there is viable access to green hydrogen”, the intention is that Bergen engines will be ready to accommodate higher levels of hydrogen, with the required engine upgrade done “as part of a main service revision that includes piston replacement, so that a portion of the expense can be offset into the normal service cost.”
Aiming for 100% hydrogen at Emsland
In Lingen, Germany, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and RWE are planning to install a gas turbine powered by green hydrogen, “to test the conversion of hydrogen back into electricity, at RWE’s Emsland gas-fired power plant.” The joint demonstration project, “H2GT-Lingen’’, will be “one of the world’s first pilots to test 100% hydrogen-to-power conversion in an industrial scale turbine”, the project partners claim.
www.modernpowersystems.com | March 2022 | 13
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