Paul Rodden • Season: 2024 • Episode: 347
Listen Now:
>Direct Link To The Hydrogen Podcast MP3<
Listen On Your Favorite App:
Welcome to The Hydrogen Podcast!
In episode 347, Will the green hydrogen slowdown affect the global hydrogen market and Hyster-Yale, along with Nuvera, are scaling up big time at ports. I’ll go over this news and give my thoughts on today’s hydrogen podcast.
Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy the podcast. Please feel free to email me at info@thehydrogenpodcast.com with any questions. Also, if you wouldn’t mind subscribing to my podcast using your preferred platform… I would greatly appreciate it.
Respectfully,
Paul Rodden
VISIT THE HYDROGEN PODCAST WEBSITE
https://thehydrogenpodcast.com
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG
https://thehydrogenpodcast.com/blog/
WANT TO SPONSOR THE PODCAST?
Send us an email to: info@thehydrogenpodcast.com
NEW TO HYDROGEN AND NEED A QUICK INTRODUCTION?
Start Here: The 6 Main Colors of Hydrogen
Transcript:
Will the green hydrogen slowdown affect the global hydrogen market and Hyster-Yale, along with Nuvera, are scaling up big time at ports. I’ll go over this 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 is 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 an article in oilprice.com Felicity Bradstock writes, Why has the green hydrogen hype faded? Felicity writes, Green hydrogen was the buzzword on everyone’s lips a couple of years ago, but the initial hype seems to have faded away as the industry takes time to build capacity and overcome production and transportation hurdles. Several countries have set out ambitious green hydrogen production aims for the coming decades, as they strive to decarbonize hard-to-abate industries. However, as governments and the private sector increase investments in green hydrogen, the sector is taking time to develop. Researchers are constantly looking at ways to reduce production costs, which are elevated at present, as well as overcome transport restrictions. While there are high hopes for the development of a global green hydrogen market, it could take a decade or more before we see greater production and use of the clean fuel.
Green hydrogen can be produced cleanly using wind- or solar-powered electricity to power electrolysis, which splits hydrogen and water. Unlike conventional hydrogen, it does not require the use of fossil fuels to power the production process. As investment in green hydrogen continues to rise, with governments worldwide pushing for a green transition and the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries, the green hydrogen market is expected to reach a value of $1.4 trillion market by 2050. A 2023 outlook by Deloitte estimated that green hydrogen could become competitive in under a decade, supporting up to 2 million jobs globally every year between 2030 and 2050. The main market driver will be the decarbonization of industries such as steelmaking, chemicals, aviation, and shipping. Deloitte expects Asia to own around 55 percent of the green hydrogen market by 2030, dominated by China, India, and Indonesia.
Green hydrogen appears an increasingly attractive option for industries that generate high greenhouse gas emissions and cannot rely on clean electricity to reduce emissions. Clean hydrogen could help reduce cumulative carbon emissions by up to 85 gigatons by 2050, equivalent to over twice the global CO2 emissions in 2021. However, Deloitte estimated that over $9 trillion of cumulative investments are required in the global clean hydrogen supply chain to help achieve the net-zero outlook by 2050.
While there is significant potential for the growth of the global green hydrogen industry, there is still a long way to go before we see the widescale production and uptake of the energy source. Governments and energy companies are investing heavily in the development of green hydrogen technologies to boost global production capacity. The EU aims to produce 10 million metric tonnes of carbon-free hydrogen by the end of the decade and import around the same amount. In the U.S., President Biden has invested $8 billion in the creation of “hydrogen hubs,” clusters of businesses that produce and use the fuel. However, to date, the green hydrogen industry has attracted few customers.
Most of the current purchase agreements for green hydrogen are non-binding, meaning that buyers can back out at any minute. This means that much of the impressive green hydrogen pipeline may never get built. Only around 12 percent of “low-carbon hydrogen plants” have customer agreements for fuel purchase. The BloombergNEF analyst Martin Tengler explained, “No sane project developer is going to start producing hydrogen without having a buyer for it, and no sane banker is going to lend money to a project developer without reasonable confidence that someone’s going to buy the hydrogen.”
Green hydrogen is seen as pivotal to the global green transition, as potentially the only means of decarbonizing steel, maritime shipping, and other hard-to-abate industries that cannot rely on clean electricity alone. In fact, we may be using as much as 390 million tons of hydrogen per year globally by 2050. However, making the switch from fossil fuels or conventional hydrogen to green hydrogen is not so simple.
Companies looking to transition to green hydrogen would need to invest in expensive equipment, and the cost of clean hydrogen production remains four times higher than that of grey/blue hydrogen, which relies on natural gas. Further, developing the infrastructure needed to transport the hydrogen, such as new or adapted pipelines, is not so simple. Hydrogen must be supercooled for transport, which means compressing it or carrying it in another form such as ammonia, which combines hydrogen with nitrogen. While the construction of pipelines can help connect domestic customers to plants, it is more complicated to reach international customers, with no well-established regional transport links.
There is significant potential for the development of the green hydrogen industry, with many energy experts viewing the clean fuel as the only possible way to decarbonize heavy industries. However, to accelerate the development of the market, private companies worldwide must establish meaningful agreements with producers to ensure their projects can get off the ground. Without greater investment in the sector and guarantees of green hydrogen uptake across several major industries, the sector could stagnate, which would harm decarbonization aims in the coming decades.
Okay, so another take on the deflating hype around green hydrogen, but I’m not so sure it is, at least in the broader sense, we are talking about a global market developing which includes geographic regions that will absolutely not use hydrocarbons in their energy development. Those areas will have to get fuel from somewhere. We know the EU is pumping money into South Africa, along with other projects getting pushed through locally. Couple that with China saturating the market with cheap electrolyzers and green projects could have legs, at least in Europe. It’s also important to remember that the hydrogen economy doesn’t hang on. The future of green hydrogen right now, there are more economical choices for hydrogen production that still have the benefit of being low to zero CO2, with some of those even being carbon negative. So let’s stop worrying about one production method feeling the economic sting, and focus our attention on building out the necessary supply chains to move the hydrogen economy forward.
Next in an article in Forbes, David Blekhmam writes Hyster-Yale and Nuvera in heart pursuit of hydrogen port solutions. Hyster-Yale Group, Inc. acquired Nuvera Fuel Cells, Inc. in 2014. Founded in 2000, Nuvera specializes in fuel cell stacks and fully integrated systems called fuel cell engines, as well as hydrogen production and dispensing systems. This acquisition has enabled Hyster-Yale to integrate advanced fuel cell technology into their material handling equipment, especially at ports where battery-based solutions are less optimal due to continuous power requirements and duty cycles, which typically consider shifts and refueling time.
One of Nuvera’s early success products was warehouse forklifts with 24-hour operational capability, ideal for maintaining clean air inside warehouses. Fuel cell forklifts proved more advantageous over both battery and propane power solutions. Nuvera’s fuel cell engines were installed in Hyster-Yale forklifts, eventually leading to the acquisition with hopes of expanding the fuel cell-based lineup.
Nuvera’s fuel cells are designed to power a variety of applications, including buses, trucks, marine vessels, and off-road vehicles. The Nuvera E-Series Fuel Cell Engines, featuring open flow field architecture and metal bipolar plates, are known for their high performance and durability in extreme environments. Currently, Nuvera offers 45 kW and 60 kW fuel cell engines, with a 125 kW engine expected by the end of the year. These fuel cell engines can replace internal combustion engines in the same spaces.
In addition to Hyster-Yale, Nuvera collaborates with other vehicle producers to integrate these engines. This includes providing engineering support and working closely in development to ensure long-term functionality. Application engineering services are a crucial part of Nuvera’s business.
As Gus Block, Director of Corporate Development, has recently noted, “Ports are incredibly important in this context. Shipping ports are ground zero for the emerging hydrogen economy. Most equipment on the port side is primarily diesel-driven, including rubber-tire gantries and container handling equipment, not to mention the vehicles going in and out of the port. Vessels also need to be decarbonized within the same timeframe for zero emissions. Hydrogen will play a crucial role in this transition, and ports will be central to the hydrogen infrastructure, serving various needs.”
The Zero-Emission Technologies for Freight Operations at Ports project deployed the Hyster brand fuel cell electric top loader. This was developed under the California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Technology Demonstration Program, awarded in 2017.
The project partners included the Port of Los Angeles, the Center for Transportation and the Environment, and several others. The Hyster top loader carries about 30 kg of hydrogen onboard. It is powered by two 45 kW fuel cell engines and a 130 kWh battery driving a 220 kW peak electric traction motor. The hydrogen fueling system is a mobile refueler with a capacity of 120 kg of hydrogen, taking about 15 minutes to refuel the vehicle.
There were two demonstration periods totaling six months: the first was in 2022, and the second ended just recently in April 2024. The time between demonstrations was primarily due to switching fuel suppliers due to pricing and availability. This common challenge in early demonstrations underscores the critical importance of reliable and cost-effective hydrogen supply. Establishing a reliable hydrogen supply in ports, as planned by ARCHESH2, the California hydrogen hub, will enable moving hydrogen deployments forward. In total, the top loader accumulated 38 operational days and moved 986 containers, with efficiency ranging from 1.2 to 3.6 kg of hydrogen per hour.
Hyster is broadening its array of fuel cell-powered port vehicles, including a new version of the top loader, an empty container handler, a reach stacker, a terminal tractor, and a rubber-tired gantry crane. A rubber-tired gantry crane powered by a Toyota fuel cell was recently presented.
At the 2024 ACT Expo, Nuvera showcased a trailer-based mobile version of the HydroCharge fuel cell genset and EV charger, based on the 60 kW fuel cell engine. This equipment might provide charging options at ports, warehouses, parking lots, malls, construction zones, and mining sites. There are a number of competitors developing similar products. Nuvera’s entry is not alone but comes prepared with powerful features. The Level 3 DC fast charger offers 250 to 920V direct current output. Other outputs include 3-phase AC power with options for 208 or 415V alternating current power, along with 10 kW of 120 or 240V single-phase power.
Nuvera’s broad presence in the warehouse fuel cell forklift market has enabled the company to pursue diverse and larger applications of fuel cell technology in recent years. A combination of manufacturing its own fuel cell stacks, installing them into reliable engines, and later into vehicles, affords Nuvera and Hyster-Yale partnership a strong hold on the market value chain.
Okay, so I know this sounds like an ad for Nuvera and Hyster-Yale, but it’s not. This article highlights two extremely important facets of the hydrogen economy. The first is the use of hydrogen in ports. Ports really are a sleeper area for hydrogen use, and they will continue to grow, not only as hydrogen exports increase, but also as the machines that keep the ports operating shift to hydrogen power. We obviously know about plug power’s forklifts, and I’ve covered Hysters, fuel cell container handlers in episode 164 these applications for fuel cell mobility are only increasing. Look at those two factors, and I can see ports becoming a massive demand center in the very near future, the questions now are, who will supply the hydrogen? Will there be a large enough workforce to handle the workload, and will the support service companies be ready for hydrogen contracts when it’s time to move?
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.
