In an article in Berlingske this week, there is a focus on delays of large hydrogen projects in Denmark. Both actors in the industry, such as Ørsted and we in the Hydrogen Industry, point to the EU as the primary factor in the delays.
The hydrogen projects are to contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in the transport industry and reach Denmark’s climate goals. But they have encountered several challenges, such as long approval processes in the EU, a legal definition of green hydrogen and lack of infrastructure decisions from the Danish political system.
Green hydrogen is produced via a process called electrolysis, where electricity from a green energy source is sent through water, and thereby hydrogen is formed. But it requires sufficient green electricity at a cheap price, and that is not always the case in Denmark.
At the same time, the US with President Joe Biden’s large green aid package has put turbo on hydrogen production in the country. It has attracted investors’ attention and created competition for the European projects. The US has, among other things, introduced a production support equivalent to about three dollars per kilo of hydrogen over the next ten years.
The Hydrogen Denmark urges politicians to make concrete strategic decisions on financing and establishing the hydrogen infrastructure. It will make it easier for companies to get started with investments and get the hydrogen market going.
Ørsted is one of the companies that has a large hydrogen project in Avedøre near Copenhagen. But the project is at least two years delayed and will not start production until 2025. The project was named Green Fuels for Denmark and was to deliver green hydrogen and e-fuels to shipping, aviation and other heavy transport. The goal was originally to be up to full production capacity of 1.3 gigawatts of electrolysis by 2030.
Read the entire story at Berlingske.