Expert on H2 potential: “Hydrogen could also become relevant for heating”

Hydrogen is likely to become a central pillar of energy supply in a climate-neutral world. But the hydrogen strategy, still being worked out by the grand coalition, is making slow progress. Katharina Großmann, head of a leading hydrogen project, explains in an interview with ntv.de what manufacturers, network operators and end customers need now to make quick progress.

ntv.de: You lead the TH2ECO project at the network operator Ferngas and want to use it to build a hydrogen ecosystem. What can that mean?

TH2ECO plans to build a hydrogen ecosystem.

(Photo: Ferngas, TH2ECO)

Katharina Großmann: We build up the entire value chain. It starts with the production of green hydrogen using electrolysis and electricity from renewable energies. The hydrogen produced can then be transported in existing gas lines that have previously been converted to hydrogen; sometimes new lines have to be built. At the other end are the consumers. In our case, it is a combined heat and power plant, the Erfurter Kreuz industrial area and a freight transport center.

Does Germany have the infrastructure for a nationwide supply of hydrogen?

Gas lines run through Germany, you just don’t see them because they are underground. So there are already enough lines for a nationwide supply; and the good thing is, for the most part, they are also suitable for hydrogen. Converting the lines is significantly cheaper than building new pipelines and also saves a lot of time. We need a legal framework to transform the existing gas pipelines. Politics is required here.

You have now received a commitment of 15 million euros for the projects from the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport. But that will certainly not be enough. Who else is investing in the project?

Großmann_Katharina.jpg

dr Katharina Großmann heads the TH2ECO project at Ferngas.

(Photo: Steve Bauerschmidt)

These are all private sector investments. The 15 million are only for the freight traffic center and have not yet been received, so they will only be called up during the course of the project. But yeah, even that won’t be enough. Investments of around 25 million euros are planned for the project in the freight traffic center alone. And that’s just part of TH2ECO project.

Ten gigawatts of power are to be installed in electrolysers throughout Germany by 2030 to convert renewable energies into green hydrogen. How realistic are these plans today, three years after the grand coalition adopted this hydrogen strategy?

It’s an ambitious goal and we’re running out of time. However, in Germany we have many project announcements for the development of green hydrogen generation capacities. If the project is implemented, it can be done. So I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll get there by 2030. But we have to get started now and we can’t lose any more time!

What are you missing to be able to advance these projects even faster?

We need final investment decisions. We already have secured electrolysis capacity for the filling station at the freight traffic center, which will be accepted. But we still have a portion that is earmarked for heat. And there we have a sticking point, because hydrogen for heat, even if it is district heating, is still too expensive.

They have now received funding from the Ministry of Transport, but the Ministry of Commerce is certainly interested in funding hydrogen projects as well. Would that be a way to get investment security?

We need to get away from constantly submitting new funding applications. Instead, we need a framework that allows for sustainable management in and of itself. So that the hydrogen can then also be used and thus becomes economical.

Is that already possible at this stage without government support?

I think the state must set guidelines for a ramp-up. But he needs to stop excluding sectors from the start. I don’t think much of it if, for example, the heating sector is excluded from the use of hydrogen right from the start. We need openness to technology. Also clear: hydrogen is not a panacea. We should not use hydrogen where electricity can be used more efficiently. But hydrogen could also become relevant for heating in certain areas.

How big is investor interest in the project?

That is different. In some cases, hydrogen can be used and is already economical. Especially in the transport sector. By placing green hydrogen on the market, you can participate in GHG quota trading, so that a business case is already being created today…

… The share of renewable energies in the transport sector is to be increased through GHG quota trading. Anyone who markets fossil fuels in the EU is legally obliged to reduce the emissions released during use by a certain percentage every year …

… However, hydrogen-capable trucks are currently still significantly more expensive than diesel trucks. The availability of trucks that can fill up with hydrogen is also still a problem.

Why isn’t there large-scale production of trucks that can run on hydrogen if it’s economical?

They don’t exist yet because there is a lack of tank infrastructure. On the other hand, gas station operators say they are not building the infrastructure because there are no vehicles that come to fill up. This leads to a chicken and egg conflict. We want this knot with the TH2Dissolve ECO project. We take the first step and create the necessary infrastructure. This then leads to haulage companies purchasing more hydrogen trucks, which in turn creates additional demand at the filling station.

First of all, that’s a big leap of faith to invest 25 million euros somewhere when there aren’t any real buyers yet. Why are you so confident that it will be worth it?

Heavy-duty road transport is currently based almost exclusively on diesel. We need to get away from using fossil fuels. Not only, but also because the pricing of CO₂ will increase in the future. So we need a CO₂-neutral solution. In my opinion, it has already been decided for the car. There will be electricity there. Here it will soon be standard for the average consumer to have a wall box at home and charge their car overnight.

Electric trucks are also already being produced.

Truck drivers usually don’t have time. For them, refueling has to be done quickly. Hydrogen has a major advantage here. With hydrogen, the refueling process for a truck takes only 10 to 15 minutes. Then he can get back on the road and keep driving. Also: With a hydrogen truck you don’t have to drive around the weight of large battery packs and can therefore transport more cargo.

But for that we need a lot of hydrogen. Can we produce that much?

No, it has to be said very clearly that Germany will always remain an energy importing country. We currently cover around 70 percent of our primary energy needs with imports from abroad. Of course, we also have to build up and expand domestic production capacities for hydrogen. And when it comes to imports, we need to diversify. We’ve seen what happens when we more or less gamble on our energy supply. We must therefore ensure that we position ourselves more broadly in the future. The import can take place, for example, via European countries in the North and Baltic Sea regions or via regions outside the EU such as North Africa or Canada.

Clara Suchy spoke to Katharina Großmann

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