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Berlin. The German government wants to set the pace for the production, import and use of hydrogen as a climate-friendly energy carrier.
To this end, it wants to double its previous target of creating generation capacity in Germany of 5 gigawatts by 2030 to at least 10 gigawatts. This was decided by the cabinet in Berlin on Wednesday with an update of the National Hydrogen Strategy of 2020. The remaining demand is to be covered by imports, and there is to be an import strategy.
Hydrogen as a beacon of hope
In view of advancing global warming, hydrogen is seen as a building block for a more climate-friendly economy because no greenhouse gases are produced in the production process and it can replace fossil fuels such as gas or oil. However, the process known as electrolysis, in which water molecules are broken down into oxygen and hydrogen, requires a lot of electricity. The German government wants more and more of this electricity to come from renewable energies. Germany is to become climate-neutral by 2045. This means that no more greenhouse gases will be emitted than can be recaptured.
The previous National Hydrogen Strategy dates back to 2020. Already in their coalition agreement, the SPD, Green and FDP agreed on an "ambitious update" of the paper.
Large import demand
For 2030, the German government expects Germany to have a hydrogen demand of 95 to 130 terawatt hours, including so-called hydrogen derivatives such as ammonia, methanol or synthetic fuels used for transport by ship, for example. According to government estimates, 50 to 70 percent of this will be covered by imports from abroad, with an upward trend in the years thereafter. In doing so, the government wants to pay attention to social and ecological standards in the country of origin.
According to the paper, a large proportion is likely to come by ship until 2030, after which pipelines are to play an increasingly important role. The terminals for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG), which are currently being built on the German coasts, will later be used for hydrogen. An import strategy is to follow before the end of this year.
Germany is to become the "leading provider of hydrogen technologies" by 2030. However, direct government support for the production of the energy carrier is only to be provided for "green" hydrogen produced with the help of renewable energies.
The storage
According to the paper, hydrogen and its derivatives cannot yet be stored on a large scale, which is not necessary given their low availability and high cost. However, this is expected to change, especially in the second half of the decade.
The nets
This year, the transmission system operators are to submit plans for a German hydrogen core network, which will be reviewed by the Federal Network Agency and implemented by 2032. In addition, the German government is focusing on connections to neighboring countries as well as to potential generation regions in Scandinavia, southern and eastern Europe, and to import hubs in western Europe. It also hopes for connections to North Africa either via France, Spain and Portugal (H2Med pipeline) or via Austria and Italy (Southern Corridor).
Areas of application
By 2030, according to the strategy, hydrogen and its derivatives are likely to be used primarily in industry, especially in the chemical and steel sectors, and in transportation in fuel cells and as a renewable fuel. A "broad application" in the heat sector is not expected by then, he said. In the power sector, hydrogen is expected to help balance fluctuating generation from renewables.
The hopes placed in hydrogen are as high as they are: Energy is also needed for its production. Wherever possible, renewable energy should be used directly and without the detour via hydrogen, writes the Federal Environment Agency. In this way, more fossil energy can be replaced. (dpa)
