Paul Rodden • Season: 2024 • Episode: 289
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Welcome to The Hydrogen Podcast!
In episode 290, Baker Hughes hits several hydrogen milestones supporting some of the biggest hydrogen projects around the world. and EU hydrogen investments get even bigger with a large portion dedicated to Germany. I’ll go over the news and give my thoughts on today’s hydrogen podcast.
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Transcript:
Baker Hughes hits several hydrogen milestones supporting some of the biggest hydrogen projects around the world. and EU hydrogen investments get even bigger with a large portion dedicated to Germany. I’ll go over the news and give my thoughts on today’s hydrogen podcast.
So the big questions in the energy industry today are, how is hydrogen the primary driving force behind the evolution of energy? Where’s capital being deployed for hydrogen projects globally? And where are the best investment opportunities for early adopters who recognize the importance of hydrogen? I will address the critical issues and give you the information you need to deploy capital. Those are the questions that will unlock the potential of hydrogen, and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Paul Rodden, and welcome to the hydrogen podcast.
In a press release on February 14, Baker Hughes achieves new hydrogen milestones to accelerate transition to hydrogen economy. Baker Hughes, an energy technology company announced on Monday several milestones to support the growth of the hydrogen economy as part of the company’s broader strategy in New Energy. The milestones were announced during the 24th Baker Hughes annual meeting held in Florence, Italy and included advancements in the company’s hydrogen and abling technologies, as well as progress and executing several customers hydrogen projects and new collaborations in the sector.
The milestones include one Baker Hughes unveiling a new hydrogen testing facility for validation of its Nova LT industrial turbines to run blends all the way up to 100% hydrogen. The new facility includes a test bench to allow full load testing with complete fuel flexibility up to 100% hydrogen, and features a 300 bar pressure and 2450 kilogram storage capacity. This infrastructure aligned to the highest standards of safety and security, which are particularly crucial when dealing with hydrogen allows Baker Hughes to test turbines and all project conditions providing customers with enhanced operational confidence. The new hydrogen testing facility will then serve as a hub for Baker Hughes collaboration with customers and the growing hydrogen economy.
The second one, Baker Hughes recently completed manufacturing and testing of its Nova LT 16 Hydrogen turbines for Air Products Net Zero hydrogen energy complex in Edmonton, Canada, the Nova LT 16 turbines underwent full load testing at the newly unveiled hydrogen testing facility. This family of turbines can be deployed for a variety of industrial applications, including combined heat and power as well as for pipeline and gas storage operations. And the third milestone was it the company also reported progress on another key Air Products hydrogen project with the delivery of the first two trains of advanced hydrogen compression solutions for the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia, the largest green hydrogen project in the world through the equal joint venture of ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM. Baker Hughes recently invested in expanding its manufacturing side and Modon Saudi Arabia to further support the delivery of projects in the country, including neom with localized testing and packaging solutions.
Both projects are part of the two companies long standing collaboration on hydrogen inaugurated in 2021. In a quote from Dr. Samir J. Serhan chief operation officer at Air Products, Baker Hughes advanced technology and experience are key elements of our collaboration as Air Products continues to execute some of the largest low and zero carbon clean hydrogen mega projects in the world.
He says we are developing tangible progress with a common goal to drive the energy transition forward and achieve Net Zero targets. The company also announced two other milestones, the first being that they also executed a collaboration agreement with HyET a company that provides technologies for low cost distributed power generation and commercially viable hydrogen production and high pressure for the development, industrialization and commercialization of advanced hydrogen compression solutions. And also the Baker Hughes signed a memorandum of understanding with green energy Park, a vertically integrated renewable energy company with ammonia and hydrogen terminals projects worldwide and part of green energy global Park group. The agreement aims to set out the principles of the envisaged collaboration between the two companies and multiple areas of the green hydrogen value chain, including production storage, transportation and utilization of green hydrogen and ammonia based fuels as well as exploration of possible co development of related technologies and projects at the gigawatt scale. And a quote from Lorenzo Simonelli chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes.
These low carbon and carbon free energy advancements illustrate how the urgency of the energy transition has transformed customer relationships and a comprehensive partnerships for innovation across several projects there is no path to net zero without innovation and collaboration. And our work with customers and partners, including Air products is providing the validity of the hydrogen economy and for our strategy to invest and develop innovative solutions to cover the entire hydrogen value chain.
Baker Hughes advanced technologies and solutions serve the entire hydrogen value chain from production to transportation and utilization. The company’s experience in hydrogen projects dates back to the 1910s and its portfolio includes advanced compressors, gas turbines, valves, centrifugal pumps, nonmetallic, pipes, hydrogen sensors, monitoring and diagnostics including Inspection Solutions for hydrogen embrittlement, and production and storage as well as clean power solutions to produce power with hydrogen and hydrogen blends.
Okay, so Baker Hughes hitting some monster milestones and setting the pace for other hydrogen support service and technology providers to follow their testing facility in Florence, where they unveiled these milestones as a prime location for distributing their Nova LT turbines to Edmonton, as well as their support for the neom development with their products as it begins to develop. And with their work with HYET and green energy Park Baker Hughes has become the driving force supporting the hydrogen transition.
My only question is this is burning hydrogen and turbines for energy generation, the best method for extracting the energy from hydrogen. Now I realize this is low hanging fruit to blend some amount of hydrogen into natural gas lines as a way to decarbonize natural gas turbines. Ultimately, I think fuel cells are the way to go to harness that energy. But then again, it’s like I always say this is a transition. And obviously, we’re not looking at massive scaling of fuel cells for large grid energy generation anytime soon. So maybe this is a first step in the hydrogen transition marathon. And if that’s the case, Baker Hughes is well positioned with their experience in testing for hydrogen embrittlement, as well as hydrogen leak detection, surveying and monitoring.
And there are cost effective ways already in place to monitor and scan for those leaks with LIDAR equipped drones. So while hydrogen turbines may not be the best use case for hydrogen energy extraction, they’re definitely a step in the right direction. Next two articles in Reuters discussed the nearly 12 billion euros and hydrogen development in Germany and other European nations in the first article Riham Alkousaa and Markus Wacket write Eu approves 4.6 billion euros in German state funds for hydrogen projects. The European Commission approved some 4.6 billion euros in German government funding for 24 German hydrogen projects. The economy ministry said on Thursday as Europe’s biggest economy bets on the fuel for decarbonisation, with a total price tag of 8 billion euros.
The projects approved under the so called important project of common European interest will focus on green hydrogen production, transport and storage infrastructure to make the fuel available for industrial use this according to the ministry, as part of Germany’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2045. Berlin is counting on green hydrogen as an energy source to bridge gaps in renewables and replace hydrocarbons and energy intensive sectors that can’t be electrified, such as steel and chemicals.
Last summer, the German Cabinet approved a new hydrogen strategy, setting guidelines for hydrogen production transport infrastructure and market plans. Then in November, Berlin presented its plans for the core hydrogen network that will extend over 9700 kilometers or 6000 miles and cost around 20 billion Euros by 2030. And in the second article, Bart Meyer writes, eu approves $7.4 billion in state aid to boost renewable hydrogen. The EU Commission set on Thursday entered approved 6.9 billion euros in state aid for infrastructure projects to boost the supply of renewable hydrogen. The aid provided by seven countries is expected to unlock an additional 5.4 billion euros and private investment with 32 companies participating in 33 projects this according to the Commission.
The projects will support the deployment of large scale electrolyzers to produce renewable hydrogen and pipelines to support it. It will help the development of large scale hydrogen storage facilities and the construction of handling terminals and port infrastructure for carriers of liquid hydrogen and a quote from the European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager. This will establish the first regional infrastructure clusters in several member states and prepare the ground for future interconnections across Europe. In line with the European hydrogen strategy, the approval of the aid provided by France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland. And Slovakia marks the third so called important project of common European interest aimed at hydrogen.
Okay, so piecing these two articles together, we see that the EU is going extreme and funding for hydrogen projects and infrastructure. And viewing this through the lens of the European hydrogen backbone, we can begin to see how that infrastructure is going to begin to be financed and developed. And I’ve said for some time, and it’s no secret that Germany wants to be the driving force behind the European embrace of hydrogen. And this round of funding should help to bolster that position.
All right, that’s it for me, everyone. If you have a second, I would really appreciate it. If you could leave a good review on whatever platform it is that you listen to Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google, YouTube, whatever it is, that would be a tremendous help to the show. And as always, if you ever have any feedback, you’re welcome to email me directly at info@thehydrogenpodcast.com. So until next time, keep your eyes up and honor one another.
Hey, this is Paul. I hope you liked this podcast. If you did and want to hear more. I’d appreciate it if you would either subscribe to this channel on YouTube, or connect with your favorite platform through my website at www.thehydrogenpodcast.com. Thanks for listening. I very much appreciate it. Have a great day.
