Η ομιλία μου στο Eurogas Annual Conference ‘A single pathway to 2050?‘
Η ομιλία μου στο Eurogas Annual Conference ‘A single pathway to 2050?‘
First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting me to your conference and for giving me the opportunity to talk about the future energy mix taking into account that we have to safeguard the security of supply and affordability to the end-users, our citizens as consumers and the industry as well.
I would like to focus on four aspects which, in my opinion, are important time, infrastructures technology for smooth and fast transition and investments.
Natural gas is accepted as a transitional fuel in our Green Deal to meet the 2030 targets.
Switching from coal to gas in the power sector is the easiest way to reduce emissions at scale in the very short term.
In this regard, we have to use the Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) and Carbon Capture Use (CCU) technologies at scale in order to obtain hydrogen as gas.
But this is a short and maybe a midterm approach. The case is how fast we can enable future-oriented projects.
In this regard, the key element is how to develop huge quantities of green hydrogen.
It is of paramount importance to develop and implement a coherent and concrete European strategy for hydrogen, as hydrogen has a high potential of a clean energy source for the future and is considered as a key enabler of energy system integration and the linking of the electricity and gas sectors.
And the key question is how to accelerate the transition. In the transition to a net zero-emission EU energy system, hydrogen will play a major role in a smart combination with renewable electricity, using Europe’s well-developed existing energy infrastructure. For hydrogen to develop to its full potential, there must be a tangible perspective towards developing a well-connected European hydrogen market over time.
Having said that it is a great pleasure to have the Commissioner Simson today with us, and I would like to take the opportunity and bring to her attention the following issue:
The EU Hydrogen Strategy sets the objective of reaching 6GW of renewable hydrogen production by 2024 and a 2030 target of 40GW. Hydrogen is set to play an important role in meeting the EU’s energy and climate targets for 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050. However, in the 2030 target plan impact assessment, the EC only foresees 11-12GW of renewable hydrogen production. Probably it is not enough
The European Clean Hydrogen Alliance was also announced to create a platform for stakeholders including, among other, industry, civil society and the EC and to accelerate the development of a European hydrogen economy & hydrogen market. However, the works of the Alliance have yet to start, and there’s little clarity related to its governance. Delays related to the Alliance postponed industry investment decisions related to h2 and also risk that the EU does not achieve its targets.
In the transition to a net zero-emission EU energy system, hydrogen will play a major role in a smart combination with renewable electricity, using Europe’s well-developed existing energy infrastructure. For hydrogen to develop to its full potential, there must be a tangible perspective towards developing a well-connected European hydrogen market over time.
The First step is that we have to upgrade the existing gas infrastructure. Hydrogen production could take place on-site close to where it is used. However, this is not always the most efficient supply option. For instance, in cases where hydrogen consumers are located away from the large supply of renewable electricity or CCS locations and have access to existing gas grids, it will be cost-effective to receive hydrogen through gas grids. Existing gas infrastructure can be used, with some modifications, to transport hydrogen safely.
In addition, the connection to a hydrogen network increases the security of supply significantly. Pipeline transport is far cheaper compared to hydrogen transport via shipping; however, the latter could become relevant for very long-distance transport of hydrogen (beyond several thousands of kilometres). Pipeline transport of hydrogen can either take the form of blending shares of hydrogen with methane or can be dedicated to hydrogen transport. Blending makes sense when hydrogen volumes are small. When hydrogen volumes increase while transported volumes of natural gas decrease, dedicated hydrogen transport will emerge, initially connecting industrial clusters and later connecting regional and national hydrogen infrastructures
At the same time, we have to build additional infrastructures, where it needed, by investing on a base of integrated EU plan and also following the criteria of taxonomy and EIB new lending policy. Which means that a vision for a truly European undertaking, connecting hydrogen supply and demand from north to south and west to the east should be developed. This leads to an initial 6,800 km pipeline network by 2030, connecting hydrogen valleys. The planning for this first phase should start as soon as possible. The hydrogen backbone is a project of great importance as it will transport hydrogen produced from (offshore) wind and solar-PV within Europe and also allows for hydrogen imports from outside Europe. To have proper technology and infrastructures, it is also important to provide adequate funding for research & Innovation.
As underlined in the German National Hydrogen Strategy, reliable, affordable, and sustainable ways of producing hydrogen are essential for its future use.
Now is the time to construct demonstration plants at an industrial scale and scale these up further to ensure that the cost of hydrogen production digresses considerably. In addition, the German National Hydrogen Strategy concludes that the current framework does not allow hydrogen to be generated and used in an economically viable manner. Fossil fuels, in particular, continue to be much cheaper. For hydrogen to become economically viable, we need to continue to bring down the price of hydrogen technology, in order to drive forward technological progress and economies of scale and promptly obtain the critical mass of hydrogen needed for some initial sectors to switch to the new technology, the production and use of hydrogen need to be sped up globally.
In this regard, we have to stand together with the Commission on the negotiations on 2021 -2027 MFF to increase the amount of funding for research and innovations and involve all stakeholders including the Member States and the private sector to develop new technologies from power to X.
Thank you for your attention.
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