Institute For Sustainable Process Technology – Industrial-Scale Green Hydrogen Factory Is Within Reach.
Hydrogen plays an important role in the energy transition as a CO 2 – and fossil-free energy carrier, raw material and fuel. But to meet the high energy demand from industry and transport, for example, we need to produce hydrogen on a huge scale. The current production facilities have a capacity of megawatts, while we need gigawatt installations, and actually before 2030. The Institute for Sustainable Process On 20 January, Technology will present a design for an innovative and advanced gigawatt-scale green hydrogen plant, which can be operational in 2030.
When producing green hydrogen by electrolysis with sustainable electricity from solar or wind energy, for example, no CO 2 is released. Hydrogen therefore plays a key role for the CO 2 -free (process) industry of the future. Currently mainly as a raw material for the production of fertilizer, and in the long term also for processes that require a high temperature, such as the production of steel. We currently use coal or natural gas for this.
From megawatts to gigawatts
To meet the energy needs of industry, transport and other sectors, we need to produce enough hydrogen. The Dutch targets for hydrogen in the Climate Agreement include an electrolysis capacity of 3 to 4 gigawatts (GW) in 2030. The European ambition is even 40-60 GW in 2030. By way of comparison: the largest existing hydrogen factory now has a capacity of a maximum of 10 megawatts ( MW). So we need an enormous upscaling, in 8 years’ time, which is also affordable.
🔥 What about we co-host a webinar? Let's educate, captivate, and convert the hydrogen economy!
Hydrogen Central is the global go-to online magazine for the hydrogen economy, we can help you host impactful webinars that become a global reference on your topic and are an evergreen source of leads. Click here to request more details
A green hydrogen factory on Dutch wind
The Hydrohub Gigawatt Scale Electrolyser project delivered an advanced 2030 design for a green hydrogen plant with a capacity of 1 GW. This plant can use both alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis to produce hydrogen. The project of the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology (ISPT) produces a design for a factory that will start in 2030 in a Dutch port area and will run on wind energy from the North Sea. The factory can operate flexibly depending on the amount of wind. In addition, the design complies with energy network requirements and requirements in safety, health and the environment. View here in 3D what such a hydrogen factory looks like.
Halving costs is promising
The blueprint is promising because the investment for an electrolysis plant is manageable. In 2020, the Hydrohub Gigawatt Scale Electrolyser project already delivered a first design for an electrolyser plant . In 2 years the project has made a better design with the costs almost halved. The expected total investment is now 730 €/kW or 1580 €/(kg H 2 /d) for AWE and 830 €/kW or 1770 €/(kg H 2 /d) for PEM. The investment for a GW scale (AWE) electrolysis plant is equivalent to €730 million.
Climate change forces us to accelerate
The goals for 2030 are ambitious. “The Hydrohub Gigawatt Scale Electrolyser project produces a beautiful blueprint. It is now up to industrial parties and knowledge institutes to pick up the gauntlet and innovate further. Because the current results are promising, but we are not there yet. We must now work on innovation and realization in order to achieve the goals for 2030. And the Netherlands has everything it takes to succeed in this,” explains Carol Xiao, program manager Hydrohub Innovation Program at ISPT. Xiao’s program is already working hard on the necessary innovations in, for example, infrastructure, optimization of electrolyser technology and safety and regulations.
Nienke Homan, board member of GH2 (Green Hydrogen Organisation) and former Climate Commissioner for the Province of Groningen, is optimistic about the progress towards 2030, but feels the urgency to accelerate. She wrote in the foreword to the project report: “Over the past century we have learned to use oil and gas to create greater wealth for all. But now we have to make another huge switch and this time we don’t have a century. Climate change forces us to act quickly. In fact, we can meet the 2030 deadline – and we will meet it.” Thanks for staying up to date with Hydrogen Central.
Collaboration by industry and knowledge institutes
In this project, ISPT collaborated with industrial partners Dow Chemical, Gasunie, Nobian, OCI, Ørsted and Yara, and knowledge institutes TNO, Imperial College London, TU/e and Utrecht University.
The Hydrohub Gigawatt Scale Electrolyser project is co-financed by TKI Energy and Industry with the additional subsidy ‘TKI-Supply’ for Top Consortia for Knowledge and Innovation (TKIs) from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.
READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central
PRESS RELEASE: INDUSTRIAL-SCALE GREEN HYDROGEN FACTORY IS WITHIN REACH, January 20, 2022
