Hydrogen

Spanish energy giants Repsol and Enagás are planning to build an electrolyzer based on photoelectrocatalysis at an industrial complex owned by the oil company in Puertollano in 2024. The device receives direct solar radiation and with a photoactive material it generates the electrical charges that cause the separation of the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen.

Australia has the sun, the wind and the space to become one of the world’s green hydrogen export superpowers in coming decades. However, the Sunburnt Country does have a dearth of one ingredient in the green hydrogen equation – freshwater. Thankfully, researchers from Monash University and a group of national water utilities are joining forces to find a way to use wastewater for the process of electrolysis.

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola will lead a consortium that plans to convert the Apennine railway axis in central Italy to green hydrogen. Ukrainian energy company NJSC Naftogaz has said it wants to produce green hydrogen with a German partner, and the Port of Tallinn, in Estonia, wants to become a hydrogen hub.

The 1 GW Horizeo project includes a solar plant, battery storage, a green hydrogen production unit, a data center, and an agrivoltaic facility. It is being planned near Saucats, a municipality in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.

A German research team has developed a photovoltaic-electrochemical device for alkaline water electrolysis that can be linked to battery storage. The proposed system configuration can not only smoothen out the PV power fluctuations and facilitate power coupling, but also improve solar to hydrogen efficiency.

Acme Solar said the facility would use 3 GWp of solar and 0.5 GWp of wind energy to produce 2,400 tons of green ammonia daily and approximately 900,000 tons annually. Construction is planned in phases with an investment of $3.5 billion over the next three years.

Carbon never goes away, says Associate Professor Tianyi Ma, but if industrial carbon dioxide emissions can be cleanly, renewable catalyzed into chemicals and fuels that we need, we can reduce the overall GHG burden on the earth’s atmosphere.

Energy storage and clean fuel company ITM Power also opened a 1 GW electrolyzer factory in the United Kingdom and South Korea’s automobile parts maker Hyundai Mobis is investing US$1.1 billion in two hydrogen fuel-cell plants in its home country.

U.K. business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has unveiled a new hydrogen strategy aiming at developing both the green and blue forms of the fuel. Furthermore, Thierry Breton, the EU commissioner for the internal market, has said Europe needs to increase its commitment to hydrogen and use nuclear to produce a decarbonized form of the gas.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said green hydrogen will play a significant role in achieving India’s decarbonization goals. He also announced the nation’s ambitions to become a global hub for green hydrogen production and export.