Lack of infrastructure investment highest risk for hydrogen

According to a new report by DNV, energy professionals consider a lack of infrastructure investment to be the joint-highest risk that organizations face when it comes to hydrogen.

In addition, a large majority (78%) believe that repurposing existing infrastructure will be critical to the development of a large-scale hydrogen economy.

The report, titled “Rising to the Challenge of a Hydrogen Economy,” is based on a survey of over 1,100 senior energy executives and in-depth interviews with industry executives about emerging hydrogen value chains.

Ambitions, hydrogen pledges, plans, and pilots from recent years have now evolved into concrete commitments, investments, and full-scale projects, according to this.

84 percent of senior energy executives believe hydrogen has the potential to be a major component of a global low-carbon energy system, while 73 percent believe the Paris Agreement goals will be impossible to achieve without a large-scale hydrogen economy.

According to a key statement in the report, nearly half (44%) of global energy companies involved in hydrogen expect it to account for more than a tenth of their revenue by 2025, rising to 73 percent by 2030.

On the other hand, 33 percent of hydrogen consumers expect hydrogen to account for more than a tenth of their organization’s energy and feedstock spending by 2025, rising to 57 percent by 2030.

Professionals in the energy industry are well aware of the significant challenges that lie ahead. Current hydrogen ambitions, according to 71 percent of respondents, tend to underestimate practical limitations and barriers, while 43 percent believe the majority of national and organizational hydrogen goals are achievable.

When it comes to the debate between green and blue hydrogen, the majority of energy professionals (77%) believe that both blue and green hydrogen must work together to scale the hydrogen economy successfully.

Ditlev Engel, CEO of Energy Systems at DNV, said, “To meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, the world needs to transition faster to a deeply decarbonised energy system.

“In addition to energy efficiency gains, this will require greater renewable power generation and electrification, and the scaling of technologies to remove the carbon from fossil fuels. Hydrogen will be needed to connect and enable these paths.

“Just a year ago, in DNV’s Heading for Hydrogen research, we said that the challenge for the hydrogen economy is not in the ambition, but in changing the timeline: from hydrogen on the horizon to hydrogen in our homes, businesses, and transport systems.

“We see that the energy industry is rising to this challenge, and increasingly pursuing hydrogen as a profitable business opportunity.”