governments approaching Hydrogen? Ilaria Conti, Head of FSR Gas - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1

How are State and federal governments approaching Hydrogen?

Ilaria Conti, Head of FSR Gas Florence School of Regulation

MIT Energy Symposium – Boston, 3rd June 2019

• 90% worldwide is used for ammonia (fertiliser),

methanol and for refining oil into fuels and basic commodities for the chemical industry.

• In Europe, Germany and the Netherlands are the

largest producers (around 10 bcm/y)

• About 10% of natural gas consumed in the

Netherlands is used for the production of hydrogen.

2

Hydrogen: the new re-discovery

"I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which constitute it, used singly or together, will furnish an inexhaustible source of heat and light, of an intensity of which coal is not capable." Jules Verne (1874)

The Hydrogen Initiative, Sep 2018 In order to promote the potential of hydrogen for the supply of efficient, safe and clean energy for all users throughout Europe, research and innovation in the field

• f hydrogen technology must be further intensified. […]

The acceleration of early implementation and wider application of sustainable hydrogen technology is able to contribute to the economic competitiveness of the Energy Union. (Signed by 25 countries)

3

Decarbonising the EU gas system: Madrid calling

Sector coupling/ integration Renewable gases: biogas,

hydrogen,

biomethane, etc Future role

• f gas: LNG,

storage, etc Infrastructure (re)planning/ stranded assets CCS/ CCU “The Forum agrees on the following no regret building blocks supporting the low- carbon energy transition, which represent the priorities for upcoming work”.

Conclusions of the Madrid Gas Regulatory Forum, October 2018

Methane emissions

• No overarching and structural policy for hydrogen development.
• No statutory and regulatory provisions
• Some EU and national schemes supporting selected areas, mainly transport (cars,

buses etc) and mainly via ‘no excise duties’ (like for EVs) or the roll-out of a basic infrastructure of hydrogen refuelling points.

• In addition, innovation subsidies for hydrogen (industrial research, experimental

development or demonstrations) at national level. Example: Topsector Energy in NL about 1m euro in 2017.

• EU support for demonstration projects:

– FCH JU (Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking), a public-private partnership Horizon 2020. – TEN-E (Energy) and TEN-T (Transport) programmes supporting hydrogen

• infrastructure. Examples in the Netherlands include the TSO2020 synergy

project run by Gasunie, Tennet, Akzo and partners as well as the H2Benelux project for the development of a number of hydrogen refueling points. – Interreg programmes, although the options are fragmented, not always transparent and often difficult to access.

4

Regulatory and policy supporting Hydrogen in the EU

• Dutch Climate Agreement 3-4 GW of electrolysis capacity in 2030. National

hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure. In 2019-2030, the government will contribute EUR30–40 million extra subsidy per year for demonstration projects in the field of hydrogen.

• Norway’s government is creating a national strategy for hydrogen technology

R&D and use. Focus on production and storage, and uses in transport, particularly maritime. Also, looking at how a market for renewable hydrogen produced by electrolysis and powered by wind could be enhanced.

• France’s hydrogen strategy with indicative targets for greening the current grey

hydrogen used in industry. The government has set a target of 10% green hydrogen use in industry for 2022 and 20% to 40% for 2027.

• Some industry players (Shell, Siemens, Tennet) aim to organise combined

auctions of offshore wind fields for electrolysis, which would imply connecting the value chain in one single tender.

• A new MI Innovation Challenge on Renewable and Clean Hydrogen

(IC8), co-led by Australia, the EU Commission and Germany, announced in Malmö in May 2018: accelerate the development of a global hydrogen market by identifying and overcoming key technology barriers to the production, distribution, storage, and use of hydrogen at GW scale

5

Studies and projects

Pros:

• P2G technology is flexible and therefore suitable for the variable electric

infeed.

• Provision of seasonal flexibility and storage, building on existing gas

network and underground storage.

• It’s a versatile technology, synthetic gases can be used for industrial

processes and heating and thus help to decarbonise other sectors.

• Can help reducing RES curtailment

Challenges to be addressed and overcome:

• Only small P2G plants are in operation (up to 10 MW) and the production
• f synthetic gases is currently expensive.
• Electrolysis manufacturing capacity needs to develop for the upscaling

challenges.

• Blending: in UK and Belgium, network limit for hydrogen is 0,1%. In

Germany 10% and in NL 12%.

6

The current debate in energy: Power-to-gas

7

Existing gas infrastructure can be repurposed for P2G or hydrogen

Source: Eurelectric

8

Challenges

• At technical/infrastructure level:

– Scalability: from MW to GW – Location – Operation: separate routes or blending?

• At regulatory level:

– framework of reference (definitions, network access and safety, etc) – Ownership – Incentives/targets

• Third Energy Package (2009)
• RED II
• Interoperability NC

9

The EU regulatory framework of reference

• EU Gas Regulatory Forum (Madrid) next

week: hydrogen is in the agenda on Day 1

• Ongoing CEER Consultation on Regulatory

Challenges for a Sustainable Gas Sector (ch. 4.2 Regulation of hydrogen networks in the future) Public Consultation Paper

• CEN
• EU Gas Package

10

In the pipeline

11

Thank you for your attention!

Ilaria Conti Florence School of Regulation Head of FSR Gas European University Institute Ilaria.Conti@eui.eu