HH2E board member Andreas Schierenbeck (on the TV screen), Handelsblatt editor Kathrin Witsch, HINT.CO managing director Timo Bollerhey, RWE Generation COO Hydrogen Sopna Sury and Aurora consultant Thekla von Bülow in conversation (from left to right) in the Discussion about the possibilities of green hydrogen.
Salzgitter, Stuttgart So-called green hydrogen produced in a climate-neutral manner could pay for itself much more quickly than assumed – especially for large commercial vehicles. Andreas Schierenbeck, co-founder and board member of the hydrogen manufacturer HH2E, said on Thursday at the Handelsblatt Hydrogen Summit in Salzgitter: “We are seeing the first indicators that markets for green hydrogen are forming.” Functioning business models are already emerging, for example in the transport sector.
Green hydrogen is produced from renewable energies and is considered the climate hope for areas that cannot directly convert their fossil energy sources oil, gas or coal to save CO2.
“We already see a positive business case in the area of hydrogen for heavy-duty traffic,” explained Schierenbeck. The trick here are so-called greenhouse gas quotas (GHG quotas). They ensured that green hydrogen soon paid off as a fuel for trucks – and was even cheaper than conventional diesel.
The German GHG quotas, for example, are intended to encourage oil companies to reduce CO2 emissions. Companies that put climate-damaging fuels such as diesel on the market must reduce the emissions from their products accordingly.
To achieve this, refineries can buy GHG quotas from other companies – for example operators of hydrogen filling stations. They, in turn, are to receive the certificates in the future for putting clean fuel on the market.
Total cost of hydrogen trucks comparable to diesel trucks
The sale of green hydrogen is therefore rewarded: those who sell it receive GHG certificates, which they can in turn sell for a profit. How much these odds are worth varies. According to HH2E, the expected average value is 12.50 euros per kilo of hydrogen.
Gas stations can therefore receive 12.50 euros per kilo of hydrogen sold from certificates alone. They themselves buy the hydrogen cheaper from the manufacturer and then have to add factors such as the allocated investment costs for their filling station. According to Schierenbeck, gas stations could sell hydrogen to trucks for eight to nine euros per kilo, for example. This means that green hydrogen is cheaper than diesel.
Trucks with fuel cells are still rare – as are filling stations.
(Photo: Reuters)
A truck consumes around eight kilos of hydrogen per 100 kilometers – or around 40 liters of diesel. At a price of eight euros, 100 kilometers with the hydrogen truck would cost 64 euros. At the current price of 1.62 euros per liter, 100 kilometers with a diesel truck would cost around 65 euros.
This dynamic in favor of hydrogen trucks is supported by a subsidy for the manufacture of such vehicles: Across Europe, 80 percent of the additional investment expenditure for climate-friendly commercial vehicles is subsidised.
According to HH2E, the GHG quotas and the subsidies ensure that fuel cell trucks that run on hydrogen will soon have a comparable total cost of ownership as diesel trucks. This refers to the total costs incurred by operating the truck, including acquisition, fuel costs and maintenance.
Funding call for new hydrogen filling stations
But according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, the number of fuel cell trucks in Germany on January 1 of this year was just 37 vehicles. With a total of just under 100 hydrogen filling stations in Germany, a little more than a dozen are suitable for heavy traffic.
According to the will of the Federal Ministry of Transport, this should change in the coming years: It has launched a call for funding to expand hydrogen filling stations for trucks and buses. Around 100 are to be added.
Marcel Werner, partner at the hydrogen-focused investment company Senco Hydrogen Capital, sees this as the key to ramping up hydrogen trucks. “It’s clear: without enough filling stations, there won’t be a significant number of hydrogen trucks,” he says. He welcomes the funding for 100 additional gas stations, even if he believes the funds may not be sufficient.
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Despite the low distribution, the two world’s largest truck manufacturers with a total weight of more than six tons – the Swabian Dax group Daimler Truck and the Swedish industry giant Volvo Group – are working intensively on the development of series models.
Refineries are increasingly asking for green hydrogen
But not only truck manufacturers are dealing with green hydrogen. At the Handelsblatt Hydrogen Summit, Thekla von Bülow, Co-Head of Advisory for Central Europe at the think tank Aurora Energy Research, explained that thanks to the GHG quota system, there are very strong incentives for oil companies to reduce their emissions. “If you don’t meet the quotas, you pay a fine of 600 euros per tonne of CO2,” she said.
Companies can also buy green hydrogen directly and use it in their production of fuels such as diesel. This is how they reduce their CO2 emissions without certificates.
It is therefore worthwhile for mineral oil companies to buy green hydrogen up to a price of 14.50 euros per kilogram. Up to this price limit, they would get off cheaper with this solution than paying fines for their emissions. This is increasingly boosting the demand for green hydrogen, which is sometimes available at prices of less than ten euros per kilo.
More: The first proposal for a German hydrogen network could be available in the summer