The green hydrogen race continues as countries learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine by diversifying energy sources, especially clean ones, and focusing on production costs.
According to a Reuters analysis, 5 of the most notable clean fuel producers can manufacture one kilogram for less than Germany, the largest European economy, can. This suggests that EU countries will opt to import it rather than produce it locally.
According to the specialist energy platform, Morocco and the UAE produced hydrogen from renewable sources at the lowest cost, allowing for greater production and export to Europe, especially given the cheap cost of pipeline transportation.
Comparing production costs
Morocco and the UAE produce green hydrogen at 3.2 and 3.6 euros/kg, respectively. Australia, Chile, and Spain produce at 3.1 euros/kg, followed by the two Arab nations.
According to some estimates, northern European countries produce clean fuel from renewable sources at 6–8 euros per kilogram, while Germany produces it at 3.9–5 euros per kilogram, both of which are higher than the remainder, including Morocco and the UAE.
According to an Aurora Energy analytics study, gas transport pipelines are the best and cheapest way to transport green hydrogen flows, therefore EU countries may prefer import over local production to avoid high costs. Euro-energy.
Researchers and those interested in green hydrogen, one of the purest forms of clean fuel, have long called for the reuse of gas transmission lines to export hydrogen, taking into account the mixing and mixing ratios inside the pipe, to reduce export costs and not waste gas lines and facilities as green technologies expand.
Aurora found that lines were the cheapest way to transfer hydrogen by sea, pipeline, or truck.
Europe wants hydrogen from Moroccan and Algerian gas transmission lines.
Germany imported hydrogen via ship at a 20% greater cost than pipelines, ammonia, or liquid hydrogen.
Morocco and Spain are notable for delivering hydrogen through gas pipes because they have abundant solar resources to produce green hydrogen at a reasonable cost.
With German support, the EU countries are preparing to finish the “H2 Med” line from eastern Spain and southern France to Morocco.
EU goals
After Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU announced the “Repower EU” initiative, showing interest in green hydrogen.
By 2030, the EU expected to consume 20 million tons of clean hydrogen (2030). The “Repower EU” initiative requires EU countries to buy half of this aim and produce half (10 million tons yearly).
The “Aurora Energy” study showed that producing clean fuel domestically is too expensive compared to importing it from Morocco and Algeria, which will be economically attractive to meet the union’s 2030 goals.
Renewable hydrogen reduces fossil fuel use in carbon-intensive businesses, according to the Repower EU strategy.
EU countries are developing 30% of planned hydrogen projects with 31 gigawatts.
Morocco-UAE
Morocco’s National Hydrogen Committee has outlined and expanded plans for low-cost green hydrogen production and export in 2019 and 2021.
Rabat has expanded with various ammonia projects, including the “Hivo Ammonia” project, the largest in the country with a production capacity of 31 kilotons per year, the “H2 and BTX” project, and the Total Erin collaboration project.
Morocco is expected to invest over $1 trillion in green hydrogen production by 2035, according to a European Investment Bank estimate.
In mid-January, the “Masdar” firm signed an agreement to export renewable fuel to the Netherlands, less than a month after Abu Dhabi declared it will host the first facility to manufacture green hydrogen from trash. The UAE is expanding in large projects.
At the COP27 Climate Summit, the UAE and Egypt announced a 4-gigawatt hydrogen project in Cairo.
