Hydrogen and FCEVs discussion thread

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GCC:
Mercedes-Benz’ Lab1886 supporting Rolls-Royce Power Systems in pilot project for stationary fuel-cell systems
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191204-lab1886.html


. . . Over the coming months, Rolls-Royce will develop a holistic concept for future sustainable and independent emergency power supply under its MTU product and solutions brand based on automotive fuel cells. It is intended primarily for safety-critical areas of application such as data centers—an area which today is covered by conventional engines.

The project is already in the development phase. Construction of plants for the pilot project is planned to begin at the start of next year.

Mercedes-Benz cites the project as a prime example of the symbiosis of battery and fuel-cell technology and a key step on the road to CO2 neutrality. . . .
 
Both GCC:
Hydro-Québec will support the clean hydrogen sector in Québec
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191208-quebec.html


Hydro-Québec operates some 60 hydroelectric generating stations, making it one of the largest hydroelectricity producers in the world. Decarbonizing the economy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the company’s priorities. . . .

Hydro-Québec’s Strategic Plan 2020–2024 outlines five applications for clean hydrogen:

  • Ammonia and methanol production
    Heating buildings
    Road and trail transportation
    Carbon-netural synthetic hydrocarbon fuels
    Renewable natural gas

In November, Hydro-Québec published a snapshot of its energy resources which presents the company’s forecasts regarding its future electricity needs and the means by which it will meet them. Although demand will increase in Québec, the company will continue to have a major surplus of available electricity.

Overall, Hydro-Québec can count on over 40 terawatthours (TWh) of available energy annually over the coming years. With this energy, it will be able to power Québec’s economic development while boosting its contribution to the decarbonization of neighboring markets by signing new long-term export contracts. The company’s energy reserves are stored in its 28 large reservoirs, which can accumulate 176 TWh. . . .

In 2015, the electricity produced in Québec accounted for 32% of Canada’s total power generated from all sources, but was responsible for only 1% of GHG emissions linked to electric utilities.

Overall, GHG emissions from Québec hydropower (run-of-river generating stations and generating stations with reservoirs) are similar to those from wind, five times lower than those from photovoltaic solar, 50 times lower than those from natural gas-fired plants and 70 times lower than those from coal-fired plants.


ENGIE selects Plug Power for refueling system for hydrogen-powered mine truck; 1 tonne H2/day
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191207-ppower.html


ENGIE, a global energy and services company, has selected Plug Power Inc. to provide a custom refueling system for the world’s largest hydrogen-powered mine haul truck (300 metric ton load capacity), which is set to begin operation next year. . . .

ENGIE is working with Anglo American, a global mining company, to develop a renewable hydrogen production and refueling solution to support a new hydrogen-powered mine haul vehicle that will be tested at one of its South African platinum mines. . . .

To support the refueling project, Plug Power has been tasked with building a full compression, storage, and dispensing system to service the new hydrogen-powered vehicle.

Plug Power’s system will be the first of its kind, and the largest refueling system built by the company to-date, with an expected output of 1,000 kg per day.

First fueling and motion of the hydrogen powered truck is expected in 2020, followed by a testing and validation program at Anglo American’s Mogalakwena Platinum Group Metals mine in South Africa, after which additional trucks are expected to be rolled out at other Anglo American operations. . . .


I previously posted a link to a GCC article describing the truck itself in the "AFV Truck/Commercial Vehicle and non-BEV bus" topic.
 
GCC:
Ballard and HDF Energy sign development agreement for multi-megawatt fuel cell systems
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191210-ballard.html



Ballard Power Systems has signed a product development agreement with Hydrogene de France (HDF Energy), an independent power producer dedicated to renewable power generation, for the development and integration of a multi-megawatt (MW) scale fuel cell system into HDF Energy’s Renewstable power plant designed for stationary power applications.

HDF Energy’s Renewstable power plant is a multi-MW baseload system enabling large-scale storage of intermittent renewable wind or solar energy in the form of hydrogen through the process of electrolysis as well as electricity generation using that hydrogen feedstock together with a fuel cell system. This power plant can produce zero-emission power on a 24/7 basis from intermittent renewable energy, in order to support electrical grids.

  • Under the Development Agreement, we are planning for two phases of work. The first phase involves the design, build and supply of two next-generation MW-scale containerized stationary PEM fuel cell systems totaling 3-megawatts, based on our new high-durability LCS fuel cell stack [earlier post]. Second, after HDF Energy incorporates these systems into their Renewstable power plant in an initial project, we plan to proceed with a technology transfer program to enable HDF Energy to assemble these fuel cell systems for global market sales of their Renewstable power plants.

    —Kevin Colbow, Ballard Chief Technology Officer

In the initial HDF Energy project, an installation is planned in French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France located off the northern Atlantic coast of South America, under the Centrale Electricité de l’Ouest Guyanais (CEOG) project. The project will involve 90MWh of energy storage from hydrogen, representing a first for the fuel cell industry. . . .


We'll want comparable cost data once this and similar dem/val systems are up and running, but H2 storage to provide dispatchable RE over longer periods of time than is likely economic for batteries (assuming they could even be produced in the necessary quantities) is probably an essential requirement to get to 100% renewables, as compressed air storage is unlikely to be available in the required volumes, there aren't enough geothermal resources, and large hydro/pumped storage has too many environmental issues to see much growth or even replacement of existing dams, even if most of the good sites outside of China, India and Brazil hadn't already been used.
 
Here's one of the occasional posts providing a link to articles re lab research. As always with such research, usual caveats about commercialization apply, as most such research goes nowhere. The main reason I'm posting this one is the article lists current prices of the materials used in current catalysts and the newer ones. GCC:
Researchers in Australia develop low-cost water-splitting catalyst that offers comparable performance to platinum
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191216-suryanto.html


A team of researchers in Australia has developed a Janus nanoparticle catalyst with a nickel–iron oxide interface and multi-site functionality for a highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction with a comparable performance to the benchmark platinum on carbon catalyst. (Janus particles feature surfaces with two or more distinct properties. . . .)

Iron and nickel, which are found in abundance on Earth, would replace precious metals ruthenium, platinum and iridium that up until now are regarded as benchmark catalysts in the water-splitting process. . . .

Iron and nickel are currently priced at $0.13 and $19.65 a kilogram. By contrast, ruthenium, platinum and iridium are priced at $11.77, $42.13 and $69.58 per gram—in other words, thousands of times more expensive. . . .
 
GRA said:
if you aren't interested inthe subject matter, is it too difficult for you not to read it?

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GCC:
Ørsted and partners secure funding for H2RES project; offshore wind power to produce renewable hydrogen for road transport
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191223-orsted.html


Ørsted (formerly DONG Energy), Everfuel Europe A/S, NEL Hydrogen A/S, GreenHydrogen AS, DSV Panalpina A/S, Hydrogen Denmark and Energinet Elsystemansvar A/S have been awarded funding of DKK 34.6 million (US$5 million) for the H2RES project from EUDP’s second 2019 call for applications.

The partners will build a 2MW electrolysis plant with appurtenant hydrogen storage. The plant will use electricity from offshore wind turbines to produce renewable hydrogen for buses, trucks and potentially taxis.

The daily hydrogen production is expected to total around 600kg, enough to power 20-30 buses, while also making testing its use in trucks and taxis possible. The funding awarded to the H2RES project is the largest among the 53 projects which have received funding from the EUDP in this second 2019 call for applications. . . .

. . . Therefore, the H2RES project, for which Ørsted and partners have just now received funding, will be using power directly from two 3.6MW offshore wind turbines at Ørsted’s Avedøre Power Station. . . .

  • Renewable hydrogen could potentially form a cornerstone of Denmark’s ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70% in 2030 and of the transition to a world that runs entirely on green energy. Heavy road transport is one of the sectors which can be made greener by indirect electrification with hydrogen produced from renewable sources. However, renewable hydrogen is currently more expensive than hydrogen produced from gas or coal. Therefore, it’s important for us to be able to demonstrate the technology and gather experience, that will make it possible to scale up the technology and make it more efficient, so that we’ll be able to produce renewable hydrogen at a price which can compete with the price of the fossil-based alternatives.

    —Anders Nordstrøm, Vice President and Head of Ørsted’s hydrogen activities


judging by the number of announcements of same recently, wind-powered H2 electrolysis production plants seem to be proliferating fairly rapidly now, although they all remain in the dem/val phase and as noted in the article, they still need to get the costs down to compete with fossil fuels (and H2 from same).


Some of the competition, also GCC:
CARB posts 6 LCFS pathway applications for liquefied hydrogen
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191223-lcfsh2.html


The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has recently posted six Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Tier 2 pathways applications for the production of liquefied hydrogen from renewable and fossil gas.


  • Shell Energy North America seeks certification of a renewable hydrogen pathway produced by steam methane reformation at Air Products & Chemicals Sacramento facility using landfill gas-derived )renewable natural gas (RNG). The hydrogen is liquefied and transported by liquid tanker truck to a transfill station in Santa Clara, California, where it is gasified, compressed, and transported via tube trailer to hydrogen fueling stations for dispensing into fuel cell vehicles at stations in Northern California.

    The Carbon Intensity is calculated to be 138.90 gCO2e/MJ.

    Iwatani Corporation of America seeks certification of a fossil natural gas to liquid hydrogen pathway produced by steam methane reformation at Linde-Praxair, Ontario facility, and transported via liquefied hydrogen truck. The hydrogen is regasified at stations and dispensed in fuel cell vehicles at stations in Northern California.

    The Carbon Intensity is calculated to be 153.36 gCO2e/MJ.

    Air Liquide Hydrogen Energy seeks certification of a renewable hydrogen pathway produced by steam methane reformation at Praxair Ontario facility using biomethane (RNG) as well as North American fossil-based Natural Gas.

    The hydrogen is liquefied and transported by liquid tanker truck to a transfill station in Etiwanda, California, where it is gasified, compressed, and transported via tube trailer to hydrogen fueling stations for dispensing into fuel cell vehicles at stations in Southern California.

    The Carbon Intensity is calculated to be 136.31 gCO2e/MJ.

    Air Liquide seeks certification of two hydrogen pathways produced by steam methane reformation at Air Products & Chemicals Sacramento facility; renewable hydrogen from landfill gas using biomethane (RNG) and fossil-based hydrogen from North American Natural Gas.

    The hydrogen is liquefied and transported by liquid tanker truck to a transfill station in Santa Clara, California, where it is gasified, compressed, and transported via tube trailer to hydrogen fueling stations for dispensing into fuel cell vehicles at stations in Northern California.

    The Carbon Intensity for the RNG pathway is calculated to be 136.44 gCO2e/MJ. The Carbon Intensity for the fossil gas pathway is calculated to be 158.28 gCO2e/MJ.

    FirstElement Fuel seeks certification of a renewable hydrogen pathway produced by steam methane reformation at Air Products & Chemicals Sacramento facility using biomethane.

    The hydrogen is liquefied and transported by liquid tanker truck to a transfill station in Santa Clara, California, where it is gasified, compressed, and transported via tube trailer to hydrogen fueling stations for dispensing into fuel cell vehicles at stations in Northern California.

    The Carbon Intensity is calculated to be 131.39 gCO2e/MJ.

    Clean Future, Inc. seeks certification of a fossil natural gas to liquid hydrogen pathway produced by steam methane reformation and transported via liquefied hydrogen truck. The hydrogen is stored as a liquid on site and supplied to hydrogen forklifts.

    The Carbon Intensity is calculated to be 153.17 gCO2e/MJ.
 
All GCC:
Air Liquide Hydrogen Energy applies for LCFS certification for two gaseous hydrogen pathways
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191227-al.html


Air Liquide Hydrogen Energy is seeking California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) certification of two pathways for gaseous hydrogen produced by steam methane reformation (SMR) produced onsite at the LAX hydrogen station, using average North American landfill gas and fossil natural gas (NA NG), respectively.


  • The pathway for gaseous hydrogen from landfill gas from onsite SMR at the LAX station and dispensed in vehicles carries a calculated carbon intensity (CI) of 158.25 gCO2e/MJ.

    The pathway for gaseous hydrogen from NA fossil natural gas from onsite SMR at the LAX station and dispensed in vehicles carries a calculated carbon intensity (CI) of 176.43 gCO2e/MJ.


Separately, AMP Americas, LLC is seeking certification of a Tier 2 pathway for biomethane production at Renewable Dairy Fuels (RDF), from anaerobic digestion of dairy manure at Fair Oaks 2.

The biomethane is pipeline-injected and supplied to CNG vehicles in California. The pathway carries a calculated CI of -255.74 gCO2e/MJ.



Green hydrogen station H2One Station Unit opens in Tsuruga City, Japan
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191230-toshibaess.html


. . . The H2One Station Unit made by Toshiba ESS is a system which produces hydrogen using electric power generated by renewable energy and supplies hydrogen to fuel cell vehicles. The system is capable of producing enough hydrogen for eight hydrogen fuel cell vehicles per day in three minutes at the fastest speed.

Tsuruga City and Toshiba ESS have been studying about the construction of a supply chain in the city. Following H2One—a one-container model—the H2One Multi Station will start operation for supplying green electricity to electric vehicles and to Tsuruga City’s public wholesale market.



Everfuel awarded €6M+ grant for large-scale hydrogen production facility in Denmark
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2019/12/20191224-everfuel.html


Everfuel Europe A/S has been awarded in excess of €6 million from the Danish Energy Agency for the project HySynergy, which aims to establish a large-scale, electrolysis-based hydrogen production facility at the Shell refinery in Fredericia, Denmark.

Everfuel will be the owner and operator of the hydrogen production facility, while Shell will be main off-taker of hydrogen from the electrolyzer. Everfuel will also install hydrogen storage, trailer filling stations and operate hydrogen trailers to supply hydrogen fuel in Denmark.


  • We have been working on this project for a couple of years now, and are delighted to see that Jacob Krogsgaard and his team in Everfuel are taking another important step towards realizing renewable hydrogen production next to the refinery in Fredericia. The facility will act as a back-bone for renewable hydrogen supply in Denmark, both for the refinery itself, and also for light- and heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles operating in the area.

    —Jon André Løkke, CEO of Nel, which holds a minority interest in Everfuel

The parties will continue to work on permits and agreements related to the project, and are expecting to provide further details on the project during first half of 2020. Initial capacity of the electrolyzer will be 20 MW, while the location at Fredericia will be prepared to accommodate for a capacity increase of up to 1GW.


It's not clear to me if this last is renewable H2 or not. It says it's electrolysis so I'm not sure why it would need to be at a refinery, but maybe that was just the most convenient place with the necessary room for storage, appropriate safety protocols and a large-scale demand.
 
All GCC:
NREL study finds high-pressure hydrogen pipeline system could potentially make hydrogen cost-competitive with gasoline
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200110-nrel.html

SQL errors so can't quote. Could and will are still a long way apart for now.

E4Tech: ~1.1 GW of fuel cell capacity shipped in 2019, up 40% from 2018; led by fuel cell vehicles
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200110-e4tech.html

. . . The driving force for the market continues to be fuel cell vehicles, led by Japan’s Toyota and South Korea’s Hyundai. Between them, these two companies account for two-thirds of 2019’s shipped fuel cell capacity.

With burgeoning bus, truck and van markets added in, vehicles accounted for more than 900 MW of the 1.1 GW total.

The remainder consists of stationary systems—of which US and Korean power generation units make up the bulk—and tens of thousands of Japanese CHP units installed in apartments. . . .

Asia remains the largest market for fuel cells, accounting for 680 MW, driven strongly by Hyundai NEXO sales into Korea and by Korean stationary power. Fuel cell vehicles deployed in Asia in 2019, including trucks and buses in China, constitute 50% of the total shipped fuel cell capacity worldwide.

The NEXO also accounts for some growth in European capacity, which rose from 41 MW to 69 MW in 2019. However, the biggest market outside of Asia is North America, which saw shipped capacity of 384 MW—down slightly from 425 MW in 2018, but expected to rebound in 2020.

First I've heard the scale of the latter deployment was that large.


Toyota to build prototype city of the future, powered by hydrogen fuel cells
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200107-tmcwoven.html

At CES, Toyota revealed plans to build a prototype “city” of the future on a 175-acre (0.71 km2) site at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan. Called the Woven City, it will be a fully connected ecosystem powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Envisioned as a “living laboratory,” the Woven City will serve as a home to full-time residents and researchers who will be able to test and to develop technologies such as autonomy, robotics, personal mobility, smart homes and artificial intelligence in a real-world environment. . . .

The masterplan of the city includes the designations for street usage into three types: for faster vehicles only, for a mix of lower speed, personal mobility and pedestrians, and for a park-like promenade for pedestrians only. These three street types weave together to form an organic grid pattern to help accelerate the testing of autonomy.

The city is planned to be fully sustainable, with buildings made mostly of wood to minimize the carbon footprint, using traditional Japanese wood joinery, combined with robotic production methods. The rooftops will be covered in photo-voltaic panels to generate solar power in addition to power generated by hydrogen fuel cells. Toyota plans to weave in the outdoors throughout the city, with native vegetation and hydroponics.

Residences will be equipped with the latest in human-support technologies, such as in-home robotics to assist with daily living. The homes will use sensor-based AI to check occupants’ health, take care of basic needs and enhance daily life, creating an opportunity to deploy connected technology with integrity and trust, securely and positively.

To move residents through the city, only fully-autonomous, zero-emission vehicles will be allowed on the main thoroughfares. In and throughout Woven City, autonomous Toyota e-Palettes will be used for transportation and deliveries, as well as for changeable mobile retail. . . .

Toyota plans to populate Woven City with Toyota Motor Corporation employees and their families, retired couples, retailers, visiting scientists, and industry partners. The plan is for 2000 people to start, adding more as the project evolves.

The groundbreaking for the site is planned for early 2021.



Michelin and Faurecia formalize hydrogen JV; €140M initial investment
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200105-symbio.html
 
FCEV progress in the U.S.--NOT:

https://insideevs.com/news/392360/2019-sales-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-us/

In other news, water is wet and the sun is expected to rise in the East today.
 
Hardly a surprise given the lack of fuel for Norcal after the explosion at Air Products, which not only reduced supply for the existing stations (and required diverting fuel from SoCal) but also put back the opening of new ones. Then there's the fact that two of the three FCEVs on offer are sedans, ugly ones at that. We'll have to see if the new and much better looking/performing Toyota FCEV sedan will improve that, but what we really need is for the Nexo or something similar to be offered with AWD, plus more stations with lower-priced fuel. Even so, the U.S. was always going to be one of if not the toughest markets for FCEVs, given our low gas prices.
 
GCC:
Hydrogen Council report finds cost of hydrogen solutions to fall sooner than previously expected
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200122-hc.html



The Hydrogen Council has published a new report, Path to Hydrogen Competitiveness: A Cost Perspective, demonstrating that the cost of hydrogen solutions will fall sharply within the next decade, sooner than previously expected.

As scale-up of production, distribution and equipment manufacturing continues, cost is projected to decrease by up to 50% by 2030 for a wide range of applications, making hydrogen financially competitive with other low-carbon alternatives and, in some cases, even conventional options.

Significant cost reductions are expected across different hydrogen applications. For more than 20 of them, such as long-distance and heavy-duty transportation, industrial heating, and heavy industry feedstock, which together comprise roughly 15% of global energy consumption, the hydrogen route appears the decarbonization option of choice—a material opportunity.

The report attributes this trajectory to scale-up that positively impacts the three main cost drivers:

Strong fall in the cost of producing low carbon and renewable hydrogen;

Lower distribution and refueling costs thanks to higher load utilization and scale effect on infrastructure utilization; and

Drop in the cost of components for end-use equipment under scaling up of manufacturing.

To deliver on this opportunity, supporting policies will be required in key geographies, together with investment support of around $70 billion in the lead up to 2030 in order to scale up and achieve hydrogen competitiveness. While this figure is sizable, it accounts for less than 5% of annual global spending on energy. For comparison, support provided to renewables in Germany totalled roughly $30 billion in 2019. . . .


Direct link to report (88 pgs.):
Path to hydrogen
competitiveness
A cost perspective
https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp-cont...-to-Hydrogen-Competitiveness_Full-Study-1.pdf



Also GCC:
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman identifies key steps to accelerate transition to hydrogen society
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200122-chung.html
 
GCC:
Bosch boosts stake in SOFC expert Ceres Power to around 18%; possible expansion into SO electrolysis
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200123-ceres.html


. . . Since signing a strategic agreement in August 2018, Bosch and Ceres have been successfully collaborating in the development of fuel-cell stacks for stationary applications. This enabled Bosch to start initial low-volume production of pilot fuel-cell systems in autumn 2019 in Germany.

Bosch intends for the increased stake to further support the collaboration towards future potential scale-up and mass manufacture of the Ceres SteelCell for multiple applications including small power stations to be used in cities, factories, data centers and charge points for electric vehicles.

Ceres notes that the funds will be used to fund further product uses for solid-oxide fuel-cells and to diversify its R&D activity to potential electrolysis applications for Ceres’ technology.

Solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC) is essentially the process of reversing fuel cells to produce hydrogen and e-fuels from renewable energy. Electrolysis with Ceres’ technology could use low-cost electricity and, unique to higher temperature electrolyzers, waste heat to convert water and carbon dioxide to high value chemicals such as hydrogen and other synthetic transport fuels, precursors for fertilizers and replacements for other petrochemical products.

High temperature electrolysis can potentially play a significant role in the decarbonization of the “hard-to-abate” sectors such as steel, other industrial heat consumers and even aviation. The Ceres Board believes that there is significant future value associated with this opportunity.

Early-stage testing on the application of Ceres’ technology as a solid oxide electrolyzer (SOEC) has delivered encouraging results, the company said.

The fuel-flexible SteelCell can generate power from conventional fuels such as natural gas and from sustainable fuels such as biogas, ethanol or hydrogen and it does so at very high efficiency. . . .


Also GCC:
Nouryon-led consortium wins €11M EU backing for green hydrogen project
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200123-nouryon.html


. . . The funding is granted by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU), a partnership of the European Commission and industry that supports the development of innovative hydrogen technologies. The 20-megawatt (MW) electrolyzer, to be owned and operated by Nouryon and Gasunie, would be the first of its kind to be implemented in Europe on this scale.

The other four partners involved are: McPhy, which will provide its innovative alkaline electrolysis technology to convert renewable electricity into 3,000 tons of green hydrogen per year; BioMCN, which will combine the hydrogen with CO2 from other processes to produce renewable methanol, reducing CO2 emissions by up to 27,000 tons per year; DeNora, a producer of electrodes, a key component of the electrolysis technology; and sustainable energy consultant Hinicio.

McPhy’s “Augmented McLyzer” electrolyzers are integrated into large-scale (multi-MW) electrolysis platforms: 20 and 100 MW and GW architectures. The systems are based on a 4 MW module design (McLyzer 800-30), producing hydrogen directly at 30 bar. . . .

Nouryon and Gasunie plan to take a final investment decision for the plant in 2020. In parallel, the two companies are studying options to increase the plant’s electrolyzer capacity from 20 MW to 60 MW to make green hydrogen to produce sustainable jet fuel in a project with another group of partners.

The project is also supported by an additional €5 million in subsidies from Waddenfonds, a fund that invests in projects in the northern Netherlands.
 
GRA said:
GCC:
Hydrogen Council report finds cost of hydrogen solutions to fall sooner than previously expected
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200122-hc.html



The Hydrogen Council has published a new report, Path to Hydrogen Competitiveness: A Cost Perspective, demonstrating that the cost of hydrogen solutions will fall sharply within the next decade, sooner than previously expected.

As scale-up of production, distribution and equipment manufacturing continues, cost is projected to decrease by up to 50% by 2030 for a wide range of applications, making hydrogen financially competitive with other low-carbon alternatives and, in some cases, even conventional options.

Significant cost reductions are expected across different hydrogen applications. For more than 20 of them, such as long-distance and heavy-duty transportation, industrial heating, and heavy industry feedstock, which together comprise roughly 15% of global energy consumption, the hydrogen route appears the decarbonization option of choice—a material opportunity.

The report attributes this trajectory to scale-up that positively impacts the three main cost drivers:

Strong fall in the cost of producing low carbon and renewable hydrogen;

Lower distribution and refueling costs thanks to higher load utilization and scale effect on infrastructure utilization; and

Drop in the cost of components for end-use equipment under scaling up of manufacturing.

To deliver on this opportunity, supporting policies will be required in key geographies, together with investment support of around $70 billion in the lead up to 2030 in order to scale up and achieve hydrogen competitiveness. While this figure is sizable, it accounts for less than 5% of annual global spending on energy. For comparison, support provided to renewables in Germany totalled roughly $30 billion in 2019. . . .


Direct link to report (88 pgs.):
Path to hydrogen
competitiveness
A cost perspective
https://hydrogencouncil.com/wp-cont...-to-Hydrogen-Competitiveness_Full-Study-1.pdf



Also GCC:
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman identifies key steps to accelerate transition to hydrogen society
https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/01/20200122-chung.html

TL;DR - costs go down when production rate of components increase and cost of renewable energy to produce the hydrogen decreases.

In other words, water is wet claim. Also, cart before the horse, since the production has to increase to reduce the costs before demand can be stirred. And despite all this, a 50% cost reduction still means $8 / kg. FCEV is DOA.

Proponents are better off advocating for FC-PHEV's. At least that solution benefits from direct electricity prices for 90% of the use cases and the owners wouldn't mind paying extra for the few times they want to travel far and refuel fast. That's their niche market, because I (as do many cost-minded drivers like me) would rather wait an extra 20mins on a 6-hr road trip to save $100 ($50 if H2 costs drop as far as the article thinks it will).

Edit: cost-minded semi truck owners are even more of a cart-before-the-horse situation.
 
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