TICKER (week 28): What’s also important…

Australia: Kepco joins H2 project + + + London: IMO members reaffirm climate protection targets for shipping + + + France: Hydrogen from the Vosges + + + South Africa: Cooperation with Germany on green hydrogen + + + Saudi Arabia: Neom commissions studies for seven solar parks with an output of 20 GW + + + Lubmin: Foresight Group supports 100 MW hydrogen project + + + France: Lhyfe and Teréga set up H2 production in Sorigny + + + DISCOUNT promotion: yours COMMERCIAL on the PtX portal

A selection of PtX topics summarized at the end of the week

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The state-owned Korean energy company Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) wants to join the Australian hydrogen project “Western Green Energy Hub”. The project is located in the Goldfields-Esperance region in Mirning Country in the state of Western Australia. According to the information, wind and solar parks with an output of around 15.000 gigawatts are to be installed on an area of ​​50 square kilometers. This requires 3.000 wind turbines and 25 million solar modules, according to a statement from the government of Western Australia. Once completed, the project will produce 3,5 million tons of green hydrogen per year. Construction is expected to take around 20 years and create thousands of jobs. Details of the agreement between Kepco and the Western Green Energy Hub, which also involves Intercontinental Energy (ICE), project developer CWP Global and Mirning Traditional Lands Aboriginal Corporation, were not disclosed. However, according to a timeline, the investment decision as to whether the Western Green Energy Hub will be built at all will not be made until 2027.

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The member states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships at their recent meeting in London. This means that greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping should reach climate neutrality by 2050. As Intermediate goals were formulated: By 2030, the total annual greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping will be reduced by at least 20 percent compared to 2008, the aim is 30 percent. By 2040, greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced by at least 2008 percent compared to 70, and in the best case by 80 percent. The IMO has also set a target for the use of climate-neutral technologies, fuels and energy sources. By 2030, at least five percent of energy consumption in international shipping should be covered in a climate-neutral manner. A package of measures will be adopted in 2025. As has been reported several times, some shipping companies, shipyards and institutes around the world are already working and researching on environmentally friendly drives and fuels such as methanol, ammonia, but also on solutions with fuel cells. The International Maritime Organization, with 175 member states, is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for maritime safety and the prevention of marine and air pollution from ships. The wording of the adopted resolution is available as: PDF (17 pages).

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In the French town of Epinal in the Vosges, green hydrogen is to be produced for local use, but also for cross-border use in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The municipal association Vosj'Innove has awarded the French hydrogen producer the contract to build electrolysers with an output of “several megawatts”. Lhyfe granted. The aim is to produce green hydrogen for difficult-to-decarbonize applications in the transport sector (such as trucks, garbage trucks, buses) and industry. The company's first location (Lhyfe Pays de la Loire) has already been operational since the second half of 2021, and five additional locations in France, Germany and Sweden are currently under construction. In parallel, Lhyfe is working on offshore hydrogen production projects. The SealhyfePilot plant began producing hydrogen at sea in June 2023 off Le Croisic in Loire-Atlantique. The implementation of the project in Epinal still depends on the issuance of operating and construction permits as well as financial investment decisions, explained Lhyfe. The Epinal community includes 78 municipalities with 116.000 inhabitants. The aim is to increase the share of renewable energy in energy consumption to 2030 percent by 46, and the community wants to be energy self-sufficient by 2050.

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Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck and the South African Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa have signed a declaration of intent to cooperate on green hydrogen and Power-to-X products. The aim is to intensify the exchange of information between governments and make access to markets easier. South Africa will be supported in the energy transition and will receive 30 million euros from the International Climate Protection Initiative. The country is considered “an ideal location for green hydrogen production” because it has sufficient solar radiation, wind potential and land area to expand renewable energies for hydrogen production beyond its own local needs and to produce hydrogen and its derivatives without emissions, according to the Federal Ministry of Economics ( BMWK). In the medium term, the development of a green hydrogen economy in South Africa could promote green industrialization and create jobs. First of all, it is about building a renewable energy system and decarbonizing South African industry using green hydrogen; possible exports would be at the end of a long-term development strategy. “The current electricity shortage in South Africa needs quick solutions to which renewable energies and system integration can make a significant contribution,” says the BMWK. South Africa's population and industry have been suffering for years from constant power outages, some of which last for hours, due to the state-owned monopoly utility Eskom's ailing electricity infrastructure, which is 85 percent coal-fired.

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The French engineering service provider Asystem SA was commissioned by the Saudi Arabian company Enowa to carry out a series of pre-development studies for seven photovoltaic power plants. The Tabuk and Duba regions are mentioned as locations. The solar parks are intended to help supply the Neom art city, which is currently being planned and built in Saudi Arabia. According to the information, the studies include the detailed preliminary design of the parks and the master plan, environmental analyzes and studies on the ecological and social impacts. The locations planned for the solar parks extend over 420 square kilometers with a potential installed capacity of more than 20 gigawatts.

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The British institutional investor Foresight Group LLP is supporting the first phase of the Hamburg-based hydrogen project HH2E AG in Lubmin on the Baltic Sea coast in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. According to the information, the project is designed for an initial capacity of 100 megawatts and could be expanded to one gigawatt. This means that around 6.000 tonnes of green hydrogen with an energy content of more than 200.000 megawatt hours can initially be produced annually, and later more than 60.000 tonnes. The system is built and operated by HH2E Werk Lubmin GmbH. In March, electrolysis systems with a capacity of 120 megawatts were ordered from the Norwegian manufacturer Nel ASA worth 34 million euros. The investment decision is expected this year and construction work is expected to be completed by mid-2025. According to the Munich consultant Noerr PartGmbB, which Foresight says advises, the planned total investment is over one billion euros. Foresight will therefore take over a large part of the existing stake in HH2E AG and all shares in the Swiss MET Group, which the project company founded together with HH2022E AG in mid-2. HH2030E wants to build an electrolysis capacity of four gigawatts in Germany by 2. In May 2022, Foresight, together with Hydrogen One, agreed to finance five large-scale HH2E projects and launched a first project to build a hydrogen power plant in Thierbach (Saxony) at the beginning of 2023. With a total investment of one billion euros, this project will have an output of one gigawatt in the second expansion stage. The other four planned cooperation projects are likely to be of similar dimensions, says Noerr. Foresight operates in eight countries across Europe, Australia and the United States and has assets under management (AUM) of £12,0 billion.

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The French hydrogen producer Lhyfe SA wants to build another production facility for renewable hydrogen together with the project developer Teréga Solutions, part of the Teréga Group. The project, called “Hy'Touraine”, is reportedly being funded by the French energy agency ADEME (Agence de la transition écologique) with 3,4 million euros. The location is the Isoparc industrial area in Sorigny, directly on the A10 motorway. The Center region's first hydrogen filling station has been operating there since 2019. The installed capacity is given as five megawatts and the production capacity is two tons of hydrogen per day. The energy supplier SIEL (Syndicat Intercommunal d'Energie d'Indre et Loire) supplies the electricity via its renewable energy subsidiary Ener Center Val de Loire. “Hy'Touraine” was founded by four community associations from the Tours region in the Indre-et-Loire department in the Center-Val de Loire region and the technology company STMicroelectronics Tours. In the Tours Métropole Val de Loire metropolitan area, among other things, garbage collection should be switched to hydrogen vehicles.

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Photos
iStock / © Danil Melekhin