The Hydrogen Stream: new push from Italy, Uniper eyes Oman’s hydrogen potential

A working group comprising Italian energy transmission operator Snam has begun a collaboration aimed at using hydrogen to reduce emissions in the glass industry. “The manufacture of glass objects, of which Italy is the second-largest producer in Europe, with over 5 million tons per year, is energy-intensive and difficult to power with electricity. To this end, the ‘Divina' project, co-ordinated by Snam, RINA and Bormioli, aims to reduce emissions in the glass melting stage, which accounts for more than 50% of total energy consumption throughout the production process,” reads a note released today.

Italian technology provider Saipem has announced a product for the generation of green hydrogen which combines renewable energy sources into a single system. “The aim is to power, together or individually, electrolyzers installed on existing offshore platforms for the production of green hydrogen. The technology responds to the growing demand for green hydrogen production and, at the same time, it allows the conversion of oil and gas offshore facilities which have now reached the end of their life cycle. The oxygen resulting from this process can be used in various areas, such as aquaculture or seaweed production,” read a note released yesterday. The company aims to apply its process to the offshore energy center Saipem, together with renewable energy company QINT’X, wants to build off the Adriatic coast of Ravenna.

German energy company Uniper has signed a cooperation agreement with Omani green hydrogen project Hyport. “Under the cooperation, Uniper will be joining the project team to provide engineering services and negotiate an exclusive offtake agreement of green ammonia,” read a note published yesterday. Hyport this year secured its 150km² renewables generation site in the special economic zone at Duqm, in Oman. The first phase of the project includes a 250-500 MW green hydrogen facility which is planned to come online in 2026. “One way of achieving this is to import green ammonia and convert it into hydrogen, which is something we are looking at for Wilhelmshaven, on Germany's North Sea coast. Germany will be heavily dependent on imports if we want to use hydrogen to help us achieve our climate goals,” said Uniper chief commercial officer Niek den Hollander.

British energy company BP and German offshore wind developer EnBW have submitted their bid for offshore wind acreage in the ScotWind leasing round. “We want to harness the clean power from Scotland’s offshore wind and use our capabilities as an integrated energy company to accelerate the country’s EV charging network, build its hydrogen offering and strengthen its supporting infrastructure, including ports and harbors,” read a note released yesterday. The partners this year entered the U.K.’s offshore wind power sector through a 50-50 joint venture to develop and operate two leases in the Irish Sea with a combined potential generation capacity of 3 GW.

Californian technology developer NewHydrogen has said it expects “tremendous” revenue generation opportunities for its hydrogen solutions, which use inexpensive, abundant materials in electrolyzers. “NewHydrogen has made significant progress towards its goal of developing technologies that lower the cost of producing green hydrogen, accelerating the timeline for large scale applications in high growth markets,” Spencer Hall, NewHydrogen’s chief operating officer, said in a note yesterday.

Icelandic flag carrier Icelandair has signed two letters of intent to decarbonize flying, including one with Universal Hydrogen, a company that has designed a hydrogen conversion kit for regional aircraft. The European Commission’s Fit for 55 policy package, unveiled last week, is likely to create momentum in the aviation sector to explore opportunities stemming from hydrogen. “We … will now start an in-depth analysis with Universal Hydrogen. At the same time, we will start discussions with other stakeholders, such as electricity and hydrogen producers, transport companies and airport operators,” read a note published last week by Icelandair.

France’s TotalEnergies has joined Austria’s OMV, Anglo-Dutch business Shell New Energies, Sweden’s Volvo Group, Italy’s IVECO and Germany’s Daimler Truck in the H2Accelerate initiative. The group collaborates to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a fuel for heavy duty road transport in Europe. H2Accelerate last week published the Need for hydrogen trucking white paper. “The publication of the first H2Accelerate white paper shows the unification of companies of significant scale and influence behind the vital importance of hydrogen in both sustainable energy systems and in long-haul trucking,” said group spokesperson Ben Madden. Road transport is another sector European institutions want to decarbonize to hit their 2030 and 2050 climate targets.