Siemens Gamesa has announced that it has launched an industry whitepaper, Unlocking the Green Hydrogen Revolution, that summaries an ambitious plan to deliver cost-competitive green hydrogen by 2030 from onshore wind and by 2035 from offshore wind.
The company which is at the forefront of wind-to-hydrogen solutions, playing a crucial role in the energy transition, has called for a joined-up approach to encouraging both market demand and scaling production, highlighting four key requirements to deliver low-cost green hydrogen within the next decade:
- Increase drastically the capacity of renewables because the green hydrogen revolution relies on this. The world needs up to 6,000 GW of newly installed renewable energy capacity by 2050, up from 2,800 GW today to generate the expected demand for hydrogen (500 million tonnes, according to the Hydrogen Council).
- Create a cost-effective demand-side market for green hydrogen to drive down the costs of equipment, infrastructure, and day-to-day operating costs. Currently, the main operating cost for green hydrogen production is powering the electrolyzers, so a decrease in energy costs lowers the cost of hydrogen and increases demand.
- Develop the supply chain as no one provider can own the entire production and distribution process. At the moment, initiatives are fragmented, and therefore costly, meaning renewable energy companies, electrolyzer manufacturers, network providers, and water treatment specialists need to work together to build a resilient supply chain.
- Build the right infrastructure in terms of logistics, storage, and distribution. There needs to be an investment in hydrogen pipeline networks to unlock the potential of green hydrogen.
Andreas Nauen, Siemens Gamesa CEO, said, "When it comes to green hydrogen, we need to act now. It took three decades for wind and solar to reach grid parity with fossil fuels, and we cannot afford to wait that long for green hydrogen to reach price parity with fossil-based hydrogen. Wind will play a powerful role in accelerating the production of green hydrogen, which is vital to decarbonizing our economy. Therefore, to unlock the potential of green hydrogen, we need to drive down costs quickly. To do this, we need a consensus between industry, policymakers, and investors to rapidly develop the demand-side market, build the supply chain and roll out the necessary infrastructure."