Green hydrogen must be used wisely and hydrogen production recognised as a limited resource that must be strategically allocated to hard-to-abate sectors, according to a new Danfoss report.
With hydrogen production set to consume more than half of today’s electricity demand by 2050, energy efficiency in its production is paramount, according to the ‘Green hydrogen: A critical balancing act’ paper.
“The potential of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier is immense,” said Mika Kulju, President, Danfoss Power Electronics and Drives. “But it must be produced efficiently to minimise costs, and we need to deploy it judiciously. To maximise its impact, which is paramount, green hydrogen should be channelled into sectors where alternatives to fossil fuels are limited, ensuring the greatest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”
While current green hydrogen conversion processes incur an energy loss of approximately 30%, existing technology can minimise this loss. For instance, efficient converters converting alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) for electrolysers can increase overall production efficiency by roughly 1%.
Though seemingly small, a saving of 1% of the electricity demand in 2050 for hydrogen is enough to power London for almost four years.
To realise the goals set by the Paris Agreement, global electrolysis capacity must reach more than 550 GW by 2030. Green hydrogen production can grow massively by 2030, but cost challenges are hampering deployment.
Hydrogen-dedicated renewable energy capacity is expected to grow by 45 GW between 2022 and 2028, some 35% lower than forecast a year ago due to slow progress on real-world implementation, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its latest Renewables report.
“Hydrogen is no silver bullet, but we need to speed up cost-efficient, green hydrogen production because there is no doubt that hydrogen will play a crucial part in the green transition,” added Kulju.
Recovering excess heat from electrolysis is another vital energy efficiency measure. Hydrogen production creates incredible amounts of excess heat. In the EU alone, about 114 TWh can be recovered already by 2030, enough to cover Germany’s current domestic heating more than two times.
Kulju said, “The potential of recovering excess heat from electrolysis is so enormous that it would be a severe policy mistake not to consider it when planning future energy infrastructure. That’s also why it’s so critical to set the right regulatory and economic framework for an efficient large-scale rollout of hydrogen.”
