Hydrogen: a promising but complex energy carrier for the future

The use of green hydrogen can be an important pillar in achieving future climate goals, but many innovations within the industry and energy sector will still be needed to make hydrogen a truly sustainable energy carrier. This image emerged during the hydrogen network meeting of the Industrial Automation sector.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

Sixty IA members were present at the Van de Valk Hotel in Duiven to listen to four presentations on the subject of 'hydrogen - the technical implications'. The first speaker was Elbert Huijzer, who works as a strategist at Liander. This grid operator is looking at how the existing gas network can be used for hydrogen distribution in the future.

Huijzer outlined the current state of affairs regarding hydrogen and its applicability. Liander is involved in a number of projects regarding hydrogen, including The Green Village in Delft. Practical experience is being gained in the construction and management of a hydrogen distribution network. Huijzer also described the possibilities of mixing hydrogen with natural gas.

Ellen van Loo of Gasunie spoke about the question of how hydrogen can be measured precisely. Van Loo said that Gasunie currently has no legal obligation to measure H2. Various technologies are being developed to make measurements more accurate.

H2 backbone

Gasunie has the ambition to use the current gas network as a 'H2 backbone' for hydrogen. For example, the company has deployed two subsidiaries, EnergyStock and New Energy, to convert sustainable electricity into green hydrogen. Some five thousand solar panels must provide the required energy. Van Loo also discussed a project by chemical companies Dow Benelux, Yara and ICL-IP Terneuzen. An existing Gasunie gas pipeline over a length of 12 kilometers is used to exchange hydrogen.

The company HyGear is a producer of hydrogen generators that convert natural gas or biogas into pure hydrogen. Ellart de Wit indicated, among other things, that almost all hydrogen produced in the Netherlands is currently not sustainable, because it is largely extracted from natural gas. Only 4 percent is produced in a green way via the relatively expensive electrolysis process.

During his lecture, De Wit, CTO of HyGear, discussed the advantages of H2 for various applications, also when the hydrogen is extracted from natural gas. For example, hydrogen can be used to make heavy traffic partly more sustainable, because driving on hydrogen does not cause emissions of soot, sulphur, ozone and NOx.

Hydrogen filling stations

TNO is also working on innovations in the field of hydrogen. Huib Blokland, manager of Instrumentation, discussed, among other things, the ambitions to significantly increase the number of hydrogen filling stations in the EU in the coming years. The EU wants to have approximately 520 of these stations operational in 2020 and this should have increased to more than 2000 by 2025. He also discussed how hydrogen can be mixed into the current gas network and Blokland indicated that the price of flow meters must be significantly reduced. Finally, he pointed to TNO research in which new sensors are being developed.

The network meeting was concluded with a round of questions. The attendees were very interested in possible applications of hydrogen. However, the presentations made it clear that the broad application of hydrogen in the energy supply is still in its infancy and that much innovation is still needed to make progress. Now that the Climate Agreement and the necessary energy transition have moved even higher on the political agenda, the hydrogen industry seems to be heading for a bright future.