Hydrogen as energy vector has the potential to enable renewable energy in the industrial processes thanks to hybridization concepts, in fact for applications where there's already solid demand for hydrogen, the switch to green hydrogen would be relatively easy because hydrogen is already used in the production of ammonia, methanol and in refineries, and the investment for new hydrogen storage and transport infrastructure is limited.
Moreover most industrial process companies have investment programs to replace and upgrade existing hydrogen production facilities and such investments provide the opportunity to decarbonize feedstock. In this picture green hydrogen has the potential to decarbonize also steel and glass production, although that would require substantial reinvestments in the production facilities [1].
To shape opportunities for green hydrogen, as Saipem we are working with our Clients for hybridization solutions and case studies for green ammonia and green urea production. Saipem is also involved in large scale green hydrogen Hydrogen Valley Projects for: direct injection into gas grid for NG blending, pipeline transportation to end users, hybridization of industrial complexes and heavy, rail & maritime transport, where in an integrated ecosystem the stimulation of supply and demand facilitates the development of industrial supply chains.
Looking to maritime applications in order to have an economics understanding of green hydrogen for transportation uses, a power to fuel and storage for road transport to harbor has been investigated: electrolysis to produce green hydrogen to feed Fuel Cell (FC) for maritime propulsion, where a technical-economic model has been developed for estimating green hydrogen production costs for different capacities and considering PV and PV plus Grid energy configurations.
The Italian Strategy for Hydrogen sets the National targets towards the creation of a Hydrogen Eco-system in line with the European hydrogen strategy for a climate-neutral Europe.
The need of a resilient energy system capable of integrating variable renewable sources guaranteeing flexibility and security of supply, is increasing the interest in the use of hydrogen, for the integration between contiguous energy and industrial sectors.
Hydrogen offers an interesting opportunity in all those sectors where the electrification of consumption appears to be a complex option, for the hard to abate sectors, both as feedstock (refining, steel, etc.) and as energy vector, such as heavy, rail and maritime transport.
