New Energies, new possibilities

The European Commission has given the green light to a €1 billion state aid scheme from Portugal aimed at bolstering the production of strategic equipment essential for the transition towards a net-zero economy. This initiative aligns with the objectives of the Green Deal Industrial Plan and is designed to support investments in critical sectors such as renewable energy, electrification, and sustainable industrial processes.

Key Details of the Scheme

Scope and Support: The approved scheme will provide direct grants to companies engaged in the production of equipment necessary for the green transition. This includes batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps, electrolysers, and technologies for carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS).

Funding Conditions: This measure falls under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (TCTF), which was initially adopted on March 9, 2023, and subsequently amended. The scheme allows for aid to be granted until December 31, 2025.

EU Compliance: The Commission has verified that the Portuguese initiative complies with EU state aid rules, particularly Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The aid is deemed necessary, appropriate, and proportionate to foster the green transition and to facilitate the development of economic activities crucial for the Green Deal Industrial Plan.

Implications and Strategic Importance

Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, highlighted the scheme's strategic importance, stating, "This €1 billion Portuguese measure supports investments in strategic equipment to accelerate the transition to a net-zero economy. This includes batteries, solar panels, heat-pumps, wind turbines, electrolysers, and carbon-capture usage and storage. This is in line with the objectives of the Green Deal Industrial Plan and the EU’s climate neutrality target, whilst ensuring that competition distortions remain limited."

The scheme is also expected to help reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels by facilitating investments in the decarbonization of industrial processes and promoting the use of renewable and electricity-based hydrogen.

Broader Impact

The TCTF under which this scheme is approved provides a framework for Member States to support measures accelerating the rollout of renewable energy, facilitating the decarbonization of industrial processes, and boosting investments in key sectors for the transition to a net-zero economy. This includes expanded possibilities to support industries transitioning to hydrogen-derived fuels and the manufacturing of strategic equipment necessary for the green transition.

The decision demonstrates the EU's commitment to supporting Member States in achieving climate neutrality goals while maintaining a balanced competitive environment. The non-confidential version of the decision will be available under the case number SA.113456 on the Commission's competition website after resolving any confidentiality issues.

Source:FCW

Origin Energy — one of Australia’s “big three” utilities — has today announced that it “intends to cease work on all hydrogen development opportunities”, including the high-profile government-backed 1GW Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub in New South Wales, which it had been co-developing with explosives company Orica.

In a market statement, the Sydney-based company said its decision to exit the green H2 project on Kooragang Island — which has been awarded A$70m ($47.9m) from the government’s A$526m Regional Hydrogen Hubs programme and been shortlisted for the A$2bn Hydrogen Headstart programme — “reflects uncertainty around the pace and timing of development of the hydrogen market, and the risks associated with developing capital-intensive projects of this nature”.

CEO Frank Calabria explained: “We have worked hard to evaluate the investment case for hydrogen and are grateful for the strong government support.

“However, it has become clear that the hydrogen market is developing more slowly than anticipated, and there remain risks and both input cost and technology advancements to overcome.

“The combination of these factors mean we are unable to see a current pathway to take a final investment decision on the project.”

Calabria added that Origin believes that “investments focussed on renewables and [energy] storage can best support the decarbonisation of energy supply and underpin energy security over the near-term”. “Origin has been closely following the global development of hydrogen technology and markets over the past four years and we have evaluated a range of options across several jurisdictions,” he said.

“We acknowledge there will be some disappointment at this decision and are grateful for the opportunity to evaluate the feasibility of this project in conjunction with Orica [which was due to be the offtaker], and with the support of both federal and state governments, local representatives and the community.”

The company says that it “remains open to exploring commercial options” for the Hunter Valley project, which received planning permission for its first 55MW phase in June and had been expected to be the first hydrogen hub in the country – one of eight to be allocated funding from the Regional Hydrogen Hubs programme.

But a front-end engineering and design study conducted by Origin and Orica seems to have concluded that the project is not currently commercially viable, raising questions as to whether Orica will continue to develop the project, perhaps with a new partner. The explosives company said it was “disappointed” by Origin’s decision and that it “remained committed to exploring new opportunities in this promising sector”.

“The support of both the Federal and the NSW governments for the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub project should also be acknowledged and Orica looks forward to continuing the collaboration with ministers and responsible agencies on the transition of Orica’s Kooragang Island manufacturing facility and the Hunter Valley region.

“We remain open to discussions with interested parties who share our vision for a sustainable energy future and Australia’s hydrogen economy”.
The announcement is another blow to the Australian green hydrogen industry’s, coming months after the sector’s biggest cheerleader, Andrew Forrest, postponed plans to produce 15 million tonnes of renewable H2 annually by 2030, declaring that high energy prices were making it hard to produce affordable green hydrogen.

Only a few weeks ago, the Australian government announced a target to produce 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen across the country by 2030, as well as a deal for Germany to buy $444m of renewable H2 from Australia through the H2Global scheme.

Source: Hydrogeninsight 

For the first time, integration of offshore wind, gas and green hydrogen is taking place on an operational gas platform in the North Sea. The Q13a-A platform of Neptune Energy (Eni) will, after successful onshore tests in Alkmaar, be equipped with an electrolyzer to produce green hydrogen on an existing platform, thanks to the PosHYdon consortium.

First production offshore is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024. Never before has an operational oil or gas platform been used for the integration and production of green hydrogen. The green hydrogen molecules produced will be transported to land along with natural gas via existing pipelines.

This week the kick-off, after years of studies and development, of PosHYdon's onshore tests took place at the site of InVesta in Alkmaar, one of the affiliated partners within PosHYdon. An important milestone; the electrolyzer will then be transported to the platform, tested and installed. This will enable us to land green hydrogen molecules with gray gas molecules through existing infrastructure. A unique achievement!

René Peters, Business Director Gas Technologies TNO and initiator of the North Sea Energy Program said: “PosHYdon is a perfect example of system integration in the North Sea. In many studies, hydrogen is considered the missing link in the energy transition, with many talking about all the opportunities. But here, right off the coast of Scheveningen, it will actually take place later this year. PosHYdon is teaching us a lot about the next steps that need to be taken towards safe, large-scale green hydrogen production from wind at sea. Offshore green hydrogen production will enable large-scale wind farms to be developed far out at sea. Wind energy is directly converted to green hydrogen from demineralized seawater and can be transported through the existing or new gas infrastructure.

As a result, offshore wind projects can be realized faster at significantly lower costs for society. I am therefore very happy that we can now test the complete installation onshore, in preparation for transferring it offshore for the final test: offshore green hydrogen production.”

About PosHYdon

In the PosHYdon project, a significant number of lessons are being learned about the offshore production of green hydrogen. This makes the project essential for a smooth roll-out towards large-scale production, as envisaged with the Esbjerg ambitions for 2050.

PosHYdon seeks to validate the integration of three energy systems in the Dutch North Sea: offshore wind, offshore gas and offshore hydrogen and will involve the installation of hydrogen-producing plant on the Neptune Energy (Eni)-operated Q13a-A platform. This platform was the first fully green electrified platform in the Dutch North Sea.

The green hydrogen will be blended with the gas and transported to the coast via the existing gas pipeline. To this end, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has increased the blending specifications from 0.02% to 0.5% hydrogen. The 1 MW electrolyser will follow the wind profile of  the Luchterduinen wind farm.

Source: FCW

The Slovenian start-up ReCatalyst and the German spin-off company ionysis GmbH are collaborating on the development of next-generation fuel cells as part of the ENABLER project, funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC). The companies have now made significant progress in their technical development.

On the one hand, ReCatalyst has developed a new generation of fuel cell catalyst materials based on mesoporous carbons, for which a production patent has also been filed. Using these novel materials, the ionysis team has successfully developed full-format fuel cells (a commercial cell platform with approximately 200 cm² active area), which, for the first time, have achieved the project performance target of >2 A/cm² at 0.65 V. This is a significant milestone in demonstrating the technological maturity of both ReCatalyst’s platinum alloy catalysts and ionysis’s hydrocarbon-based CCM technology.

“The collaboration with ionysis is exactly what makes the EIC Transition project very special – it enabled both start-ups to rapidly improve their technologies without compromising commercial goals,” said Dr. Matija Gatalo, CTO ReCatalyst.  “We have been able to reach this significant performance target exactly because of our synergies, since a great catalyst can only show its potential in a highly optimized CCM.”

Dr. Matthias Breitwieser, CTO of ionysis, commented: “The timing was perfect: ReCatalyst has made huge progress in catalyst development, while at the same time we have significantly optimized the ink formulation and our direct CCM coating process. This enabled us to integrate both developments into our next generation of hydrocarbon-based CCMs.”  

The next step for both companies is scaling. ReCatalyst is scaling up the synthesis of its new catalysts, while ionysis is currently installing the pilot plant for CCM production.

“The synergies between us, such as the maturity stage as well as technological complementarity, enable us to thrive,” said Tomaž Bizjak, CEO of ReCatalyst. “We understand each other’s needs and dynamics well and we know that only through such potent innovation we can tackle the challenge of exploiting our commercial potentials in the fast-developing global market with many established players.” 

Lisa Langer, CFO of ionysis, added: “EIC Transition offers a unique project setup where the commercialization of technological innovation is prepared from the very beginning. It is a huge benefit for ionysis to have a sparring partner in ReCatalyst and push forward the complementary innovations to move ahead faster in the quest of bringing the next generation of fuel cells to market.”

Source: Hydrogentechworld

US engineering firm Cummins has officially cut the ribbon on its new 500MW green hydrogen electrolyser factory in Guadalajara in central Spain, the company announced today (Thursday).

The factory has been producing Cummins’ proton exchange membrane (PEM) machines since April 2024, after it was awarded an operation licence by the regional government.

However, it was originally intended to be finished last year following its announcement in 2021, and it is still not clear what has caused the delay.

Accelera, the zero-emissions business subsidiary of Cummins tasked with building and operating the factory, said today that it could also scale the factory to 1GW “in the future”, without giving a timeframe.

If realised, this would make it one of the biggest plants in Europe.

The 260,000 square-foot (24,154 square-metre) site produces up to 70% of its energy demand on-site, with the aid of around 3,000 rooftop solar panels and 100 geothermal points for renewable heating and cooling.

“The opening of our new electrolyser manufacturing plant in Europe is a significant milestone for Accelera and a crucial step in advancing global decarbonisation efforts,” said Amy Davis, president of Accelera. “Together with our community partners, we are boosting the local economy through job creation, enabling large-scale green hydrogen production, and building the necessary infrastructure to make hydrogen a reliable and affordable solution to decarbonise some of the most energy-intensive industries.”

PEM electrolyser manufacturer H-Tec Systems cut the ribbon on its own 5GW automated gigafactory in Germany on Monday, while fellow PEM maker ITM has a 1GW facility in the UK, while Norway’s Nel, which makes both alkaline and PEM machines is expanding its factory in Herøya, Norway, from 500MW to 1GW.

Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Nucera has electrolyser manufacturing capacity of 1GW for its alkaline machines, while compatriot Siemens also has a 1GW alkaline electrolyser factory that it opened in Berlin last year — which it says it can scale up to 3GW by 2025.

Source: Hydrogeninsight