Argentina H2 group proposes investment promotion scheme
Argentina's hydrogen industry association Plataforma H2 has proposed a special investment promotion regime for low carbon and renewable hydrogen to attract project developers and stimulate the sector's development.
The proposal foresees creation of an incentive scheme providing a series of tax exemptions for companies and mechanisms that are "necessary for the development" of the industry, the group said. Under the proposed terms, renewable hydrogen projects would benefit from the incentives for 30 years, while "low-carbon" hydrogen projects would be supported for 15 years.
The proposal defines renewable hydrogen as being produced through electrolysis powered by renewable sources, as well as "obtained through thermochemical processes from organic inputs". Low-carbon hydrogen would have to have emissions below thresholds that will be defined by authorities using "internationally approved methodologies". This could arguably include hydrogen made from natural gas combined with carbon capture and storage (CCS), as Argentina is hoping to capitalise on gas reserves from its Vaca Muerta shale basin.
Suggested measures to promote renewable and low carbon hydrogen include exemption of customs duties on imported goods, reduced income tax and the possibility of paying value added tax to suppliers of federal tax authorities through the use credit certificates. The document did not explain further how a tax credit certificate would work, but said rules to qualify for the benefit would be established by the "enforcement authority."
The incentives programme would be open to participants across the value chain, from production of renewable power for electrolysis to hydrogen distribution and storage. It would include projects for capture, transportation and storage of greenhouse gases.
The industry group also suggested creating a dedicated fund to help financing projects.
Lawmakers in Buenos Aires started discussions with the private sector about establishing a hydrogen regulatory framework. The government is expected to present a draft bill next month.
The administration of President Javier Milei has put in place the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (Rigi), aimed at facilitating projects with more than $200mn in investments through similar tax incentives. But hydrogen industry participants have said Rigi would lock out hydrogen projects because it will be open for two years only, which is too little time for major projects to be realised.
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Greece set to miss EU goal for green H2 use in industry
Greece set to miss EU goal for green H2 use in industry
Hamburg, 23 August (Argus) — Greece has further reduced its 2030 goal for installed electrolysis capacity, which suggests the country will miss an EU target for renewable hydrogen use in industry. A new national energy and climate plan (NECP) put forward for consultation by the interior ministry sets a goal of 187MW installed electrolysis capacity by 2030. This follows several revisions over the past two years. An initial 2021-30 NECP from January 2023 set a target of 1.2GW . This was raised to 1.7GW by August that year, but slashed to just 300MW in November. That sharp cut followed an assessment that previous targets had been too high, considering Greece's ability to produce and consume renewable hydrogen by the end of the decade. Previous iterations of the NECP had considered injections of renewable hydrogen into the natural gas grid, which have since been deemed too expensive. Renewable hydrogen use in Greece is now foreseen to be limited almost exclusively to production of synthetic fuels for shipping and aviation until 2030. The government expects around 1 TWh/yr of hydrogen will be needed for this, equivalent to just over 30,000 t/yr based on hydrogen's lower heating value of 33.33 kWh/kg. It could be difficult to produce this amount with just 187MW of electrolyser capacity, especially as the plan foresees a small additional amount would be required to fuel buses in Athens and Thessaloniki. The ministry was not immediately available to comment on how the electrolyser and production targets align. Off target The synthetic fuel production could allow Greece to meet EU targets for use of renewable hydrogen or derivatives in transport, but the NECP suggests it will not meet the bloc's goal for industry use. The EU requires member states to ensure 42pc of industrial hydrogen use is renewable by 2030 . Greece's NECP does not consider any renewable hydrogen use that would count towards the industry targets by then. This is despite the country currently using around 700-1,050 GWh/yr of conventional hydrogen — made from natural gas with unabated emissions — for ammonia production, some of which would arguably have to be replaced by renewable hydrogen to meet the target. Greek refineries use conventional hydrogen, but most of this would be covered under EU targets for transport rather than for industry. Emissions at refineries will be reduced primarily by switching to 'blue' hydrogen that uses carbon capture and storage, rather than renewable supply, according to the NECP. Previous iterations of the NECP had mentioned the EU's 42pc target for 2030, but the new plan makes no such reference. The ministry instead states broadly that goals set by the EU "are not certain to be achievable" given a lack of maturity with regard to renewable hydrogen. By 2035, member states will have to reach 60pc of renewable hydrogen use in industry. Greece could be able to comply with this based on the NECP projections, with 700 GWh/yr use for ammonia production anticipated by then. Required electrolyser capacity is expected to rise to 680MW by 2035 and to more than 5GW by 2050 ( see table ). By 2035, the renewables share in Greece's electricity mix could reach 90pc, which would make it easier for grid-connected electrolysis projects to comply with the EU's definition of renewable hydrogen as it would remove requirements such as additionality and the need for power purchase agreements. Greece does not expect to require renewable hydrogen imports and could export into Europe in the long-run through two planned pipeline connections in the country's north, according to the NECP. It stops short of providing estimates for export potential, pointing to uncertainties around technological developments and demand. Carrots and sticks Athens wants to support the hydrogen sector through subsidies for production of renewable hydrogen and derivatives that could include demand-side incentives such as tax exemptions. The European hydrogen bank's auction-as-a-service system could be used for production support, but the NECP leaves open the possibility of other mechanisms. Mandated quotas for renewable hydrogen consumption in transport or industry could be "an effective mechanism" for reaching demand targets, but only once "the relevant applications" have reached "technical and economic" maturity, according to the NECP. The government is concerned about increases in consumer prices given the considerably higher costs for cleaner fuels. It points to potential detrimental effects on the tourism industry — which accounts for 13pc of gross domestic product — if the cost of airfares and coastal shipping increases significantly. Greece renewable H2 projections 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 Injections into gas grid in TWh/yr 1.0 3.7 6.5 12.1 20.2 Of which: Heavy transport 0.0 0.0 0.6 1.1 1.9 Synthetic fuels 1.0 2.8 5.0 7.8 15.0 Ammonia production 0.0 0.7 0.8 3.0 3.2 Injections into gas grid 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 Electrolysis capacity in MW 187 680 1,232 2,347 5,188 - government Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Brazilian politicians, judges to advance green agenda
Brazilian politicians, judges to advance green agenda
Sao Paulo, 22 August (Argus) — Representatives from Brazil's three branches of government have pledged to work together to advance the country's green agenda by approving legislation, expanding funding and guaranteeing enforcement related to the environment and the energy transition. Representatives from the supreme court (STF) and congress, together with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and members of his cabinet signed an agreement on Wednesday aimed at reinforcing the country's commitment to protecting the environment. On the legislative front, lower house speaker Arthur Lira and senate President Rodrigo Pacheco promised to give priority to legislation that will advance the transition to low-carbon energy. This includes legislation that will create a regulated carbon market, a bill regulating offshore wind projects as well as a proposal that will create blend mandates for advanced biofuels. Pacheco plans to hold a vote for the bill that will create a carbon market in the first half of September, a spokesperson for senator Leila Barros, who is elaborating the text, told Argus . Barros has made significant progress on the new draft of the bill, but is finetuning the final text to address demands from specific sectors of the economy, the spokesperson said. The senate is also finalizing its analysis of the fuels of the future bill, which will create blend mandates for hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as well as clear the way to increase the mandatory ethanol and biodiesel blends in commercial fuels. Senator Veneziano Vital do Rego presented a draft of the legislation on 20 August and is working to hold a vote in early September on the bill, which passed the lower house in March. Legislation for offshore wind has also made progress in the senate, but a proposal has not yet been presented. A draft of the bill was approved by the lower house last year, but included amendments that would expand subsidies for fossil fuels, potentially raising electricity prices for consumers. As part of the agreement, the executive branch has also promised to make further progress towards guaranteeing financing for energy transition projects. Likewise, the judiciary has agreed to give priority to cases that involve environmental, climate and land ownership. Lula stressed that the agreement among the three branches of the government shows Brazil's willingness to take a leading role to protect that environment as it prepares to host the Cop 30 meeting in Para state in 2025. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US electrolyser maker raises $18mn for AEM tech
US electrolyser maker raises $18mn for AEM tech
London, 22 August (Argus) — US-based electrolyser start-up Power to Hydrogen (P2H2) has raised $18mn to scale up the size of its stack technology and strengthen the company's equipment production capacity. The firm will soon deploy two 250kW anion exchange membrane (AEM) stacks, the largest installed globally, nearly 100 times larger than the 2.4kW stacks offered by German rival Enapter, P2H2 vice president of business development Alex Zorniger told Argus . P2H2 will deliver the stacks for a 500kW pilot at the Port of Antwerp around the turn of the year, as the project has already reached an investment decision, he added. Enapter mass produces its 2.4kW "cores" or stacks to assemble into larger arrays, and has already delivered projects at megawatt scale, in terms of total capacity. But P2H2 has developed the largest individual AEM stack size, as it aims to get closer to stack sizes of the more established alkaline and proton exchange membrane (PEM) technologies, Zorniger said. According to Zorniger, P2H2 has also made a breakthrough in durability compared with some other firms in the race to develop AEM technology, which has been tipped to lower renewable hydrogen production costs in future. The P2H2 stacks have shown durability five times better than the EU's current performance indicators for "state of the art" AEM stacks, he said, albeit only in tests of 10kW. P2H2's stacks operate at a higher pressure of 250 bar compared with some electrolyser rivals, which means customers can skip the cost of compressing the hydrogen which is necessary for hydrogen storage or certain applications like mobility or production of ammonia or methanol. The new 250kW stacks are a big step up from the two 10kW stacks that P2H2 has deployed at projects in the US — one with Italy's Enel Green Power and another with a consortium of international electric utilities including American Electric Power, Portugal's EDP, Germany's E.ON and ESB. Those four joined the investment round this week. The funding round was led by investment firm Rev1 Ventures and joined by the Ohio-based consumer appliances manufacturer Worthington Enterprises. They were also joined by investment firms Finindus, FH Capital, INP Capital, Japanese power company Jera, and Japanese industrial corporation Asahi Kasei which could be looking to build on its own plans to sell alkaline electrolysers . Ohio-based P2H2 has branched out across the Atlantic with the Antwerp pilot plant and office in Belgium as many of its backers are European firms with plans to supply kit for European projects, Zorniger said. P2H2 expects to announce its first commercial client projects in 2025. Once it has validated its technology in Antwerp, P2H2 could make tens of megawatts of electrolyser equipment annually at its non-automated site in Ohio and will make use of some of the $18mn to strengthen its supply chains. But it will probably need to move to a new automated factory to scale up further, Zorniger said. By Aidan Lea Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Dutch €1bn green H2 subsidy scheme to open in October
Dutch €1bn green H2 subsidy scheme to open in October
Mumbai, 20 August (Argus) — The Netherlands will accept bids for its €998mn ($1.07bn) scheme to support large-scale renewable hydrogen production plants on 15-31 October. This round aims to support construction of "at least 200MW of electrolysis capacity" and has a budget more than four times larger than a previous subsidy round held last year, for which the successful bidders were announced in April . It was initially announced by Dutch enterprise agency RVO in March and approved by the European Commission in July . A single project can apply to receive a maximum subsidy of up to 50pc of the total amount. The subsidy scheme entails support for up to 80pc of a project's investment costs. It will also cover operating costs, with the latter to be granted for 5-10 years — depending on a project's specific requirements — through a contracts-for-difference mechanism. For the operating subsidies, project developers have to provide their expected renewable hydrogen production costs up to a maximum of €9/kg. The subsidy is then calculated as the difference between this renewable hydrogen cost and the cost of making "grey" hydrogen from natural gas through steam methane reforming. The "grey" production cost will be determined on annual basis by the government. For 2024, it has been provisionally set at €3.8131/kg and the final cost cannot be lower than €1.7997/kg. A final "grey" production cost will be determined by 1 April for each preceding year based on actual costs and market conditions. The cost calculations also take into account the value of guarantees of origin for renewable hydrogen and any revenues or cost savings from greenhouse gas emission allowances from which the project might benefit. Projects will be selected based on their requested investment and operational subsidies, which will be expressed as € per MW of electrolysis capacity. Projects must be completed and start production within five years of receiving the subsidy, although there is a possibility of extending this deadline by up to two years in certain cases. By Akansha Victor Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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