The Azerbaijani government has recently intensified steps aimed at expanding the use of renewable energy sources (RES).
And against the background of expected in the next 10-15 years global energy transition our country plans to diversify the structure of energy supplies to foreign markets. In particular, the prospects of hydrogen exports using renewable energy resources in production processes are being studied.
Aspects of cooperation in “green” energy and the possibility of hydrogen production in our country in the future were discussed the other day during a meeting in Baku of Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and U.S. Ambassador Lee Litzenberger, Caliber.Az reports.
According to most international experts, the transition to clean energy scheduled for 2030-2035 in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Korea, China and several other advanced countries will require significant changes in the fuel market. Along with the maximum expansion of solar, wind and other types of alternative energy by the specified date it is planned to convert about 50% of cars, buses and other types of land transport to electricity.
However because of a number of circumstances the full electrification of motor transport is a much more distant future, and in the next decade it is planned to use other, more ecologically safe types of fuel, in particular “green” hydrogen, as an alternative to petrol and diesel fuel.
Just 10-15 years ago the use of hydrogen fuel in transportation and industry was considered a very distant technology. This was mainly a matter of experimental and pilot projects, conducted primarily for theoretical research purposes. Today, however, this area has a certain market share: hydrogen gas stations are already in operation in Europe, Japan, the USA and China, and hydrogen-powered cars and mechanisms are successfully used.
According to studies by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), in order to prevent damage to the planet’s ecosystem, it is planned to gradually reduce the traditional trade in fossil resources – oil, gas, coal, etc., and the environmentally safe energy industry of the future will be built on mass use of hydrogen fuel along with growth of electricity generation based on RES. By 2050 hydrogen will account for up to 12% of the world’s energy consumption.
Production of “green” hydrogen (mainly produced from water using renewable energy resources) will cover a huge number of countries, including those without mineral reserves of energy resources, thus achieving climate neutrality without harming industrial growth and social development of mankind.
It is hard to speculate today how cost-effective and commercially viable such plans will be in the future, but at this week’s U.S.-European Union Energy Council, the two key global players on the world energy map reaffirmed their willingness to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate goals. In particular, the Council once again recognized the key role of clean and renewable hydrogen in ensuring the decarbonization of energy systems.
Also, the EU and America will make joint efforts to promote work to increase the production of green hydrogen, unifying codes, standards and certification, as well as the regulatory framework, cooperating in research and technological innovation.
The seriousness of these intentions is evidenced by the special program on hydrogen energy implemented by the European Union, for which 50-60 billion euros will be spent in the coming years. This includes the creation and management of infrastructure, ways to turn gas into hydrogen, and other areas. And by 2035, a total of 100 billion euros will be spent on the construction of hydrogen production facilities, refueling stations and other infrastructure.
Moreover, today the U.S. and the EU plan to coordinate their efforts to support third countries, creating the basis for an open and sustainable global hydrogen market. Many countries, including those in the former Soviet Union, are planning to participate in hydrogen fuel production and export projects. These include Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Russia. For example, the Russian Federation has already voiced plans to ensure sales of hydrogen in the world market by 2030 at up to 10 million tons, that is, approximately 40 billion dollars.
Azerbaijan also positions itself as a potential candidate for participation in international hydrogen production and export projects. This topic was repeatedly discussed during the talks with the EU on energy security and diversification of energy supplies. In particular, in early February, during the VIII meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor in Baku the prospects of hydrogen transportation through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) were discussed.
Commissioner for Energy of the European Commission, Kadri Simson, who participated in the forum, noted that in the next decade Europe intends to create a full-fledged hydrogen market that will be open for imports from third countries, including Azerbaijan.
Last Wednesday, this theme was continued during a meeting between Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and U.S. Ambassador Lee Litzenberger: in particular, the possibility of hydrogen production in our country and its export in the foreseeable future was discussed.
Here it is necessary to note that Azerbaijan also carries out researches concerning the perspectives of creation of corresponding capacities and infrastructure for production and export of hydrogen. In particular, the consortium TAP and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) carry out studies on the transportation of hydrogen in Europe and have recently even outlined preliminary plans for this venture.
In particular, they are studying the requirements for the design of the necessary equipment for transportation of the mixture of natural gas and hydrogen through TAP pipeline. In cooperation with international companies such as BP, KBR UK, Masdar UAE and Equinor Norway there are currently discussions about advanced hydrogen production technologies: production of “green” hydrogen by electrolysis of seawater using offshore wind power as well as production of “blue” hydrogen from offshore gas.
However, transportation of the gas-hydrogen mixture is a rather complicated technological process, which is also connected with a number of operational and commercial factors. Therefore, as one of the alternatives, SOCAR considers investing in hydrogen projects directly at the marketing sources in Europe.
In particular, it concerns plans of SOCAR’s Swiss subsidiary Energy Switzerland to participate in a consortium on the construction of a 10 MW electrolysis plant in Switzerland, where hydrogen fuel production and its retail sales will be set up through a SOCAR-owned petrol station network.
However, in the future Azerbaijan also intends to use environmentally friendly hydrogen in the domestic fuel market: today this gas is produced in limited quantities mainly for the needs of the domestic chemical industry. In the future the country plans to actively develop a very large wind energy potential of the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, which is estimated by the Ministry of Energy and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) at 157 GW. Of course, from a practical point of view, only a small part of this potential can be attracted to real operation, but even small volumes of “offshore wind turbines” production can be directed to the production of hydrogen from water, and then store it in tanks, and use inside the country as a replacement for natural gas and other fuels for motor vehicles in times of excessive production.
