The message is clear: “The only way to make hydrogen economically viable is through achieving economies of scale.” This is how categorical the general director of Maintenance and Purchasing of Alsa, Miguel Ángel Alonso, was during the first day of green hydrogen promoted by bosch in Madrid.
The largest component manufacturer in the world by turnover – it earned 88.2 billion euros in 2022, 2,448 of which in Spain – is well positioned to face the transition to this technology, if it occurs.
On the one hand, it already manufactures fuel cells to transform gas into electricity and use it to propel vehicles or supply homes – in 2024 they will launch a pilot project in the United Kingdom; but on the other hand, and possibly more importantly, they have electrolysis systems for industrial applications that can be mounted in 2.5, 5 or 20 megawatt modules for plants of up to 1 Gigawatt. This was stated by the Business Development Director of the Spanish subsidiary, Emma Nogueira.
For this to occur, however, several conditions must be met. The first of them is to reduce the price of renewable energies, a non-negotiable part of the equation for hydrogen production to be green. Looking ahead to 2030, Bosch estimates that this will become between 50% and 65% cheaper.
Secondly, significant investments must be made. The European Union has allocated 800 million for the creation of the European Hydrogen Bank to regulate the single market, an amount that pales in comparison to the 2.5 billion that the German manufacturer will allocate until 2025 in the development of these systems. Even so, everyone present at the day agreed that they were not enough. “If the Next Generation EU funds are not continued, the ecological transition will stop,” said Iveco’s Innovation Director, Pablo Arjonilla.
However, the essential thing is to balance the supply with the demand for this mobility. “We need competitive prices with diesel or electric cars,” said the manager.
In recent years, there has been a mental transition in which this technology is considered only as a means of decarbonization for commercial and industrial vehicles – the size, weight and recharging time of the batteries means that they do not make sense as purely electric – and Iveco is already planning to launch fuel cell versions for its Daily van in 2024.
Toyota Chief Technology Officer Hiroki Nakajima admitted in October that sales of its hydrogen sedan, Mirai, “were not successful” – in the US they reached a maximum of 2,629 units in 2022 – and that they would focus their resources on commercial vehicles. and industrial.
Hydrogen network
The key piece for hydrogen to be a viable technology is that there is functional supply. The Director of Development of the Californian network First Element Fuel, Shane Stepehns, stated that “in Europe, recharging projects are small, experimental and move in the form of gas.
“If you want to scale up, you need to invest in liquid hydrogen.” This means investing in a net that keeps the element below 252.8 degrees, but avoids the need for compression.
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