{"id":636348,"date":"2024-07-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/goinggreens\/green-hydrogen-storage-infrastructure-will-play-a-vital-role-in-our-green-transition\/"},"modified":"2024-07-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T00:00:00","slug":"green-hydrogen-storage-infrastructure-will-play-a-vital-role-in-our-green-transition","status":"publish","type":"goinggreen","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/goinggreens\/green-hydrogen-storage-infrastructure-will-play-a-vital-role-in-our-green-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Green hydrogen storage infrastructure will play a vital role in our green transition"},"content":{"rendered":"

What's the latest in green hy<\/strong>drogen storage?<\/strong> As many countries invest in green hydrogen projects to transition away from carbon-intensive energy sources, attention is turning to large-scale underground hydrogen storage (UHS) facilities as a critical component to facilitate this move towards green hydrogen. UHS facilities help support the stability of electricity supplies and promote the use of green hydrogen in various sectors.<\/p>\n

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links <\/strong>to our background as well as external sources.)<\/p>\n

The Egypt angle:<\/strong> Egypt has big green hydrogen ambitions<\/a> as the government works to transform it into a regional hub for green hydrogen production by 2026 and a global hub by 2030, with plans to produce 3.2 mn tons of green hydrogen a year by 2030 and 9.2 mn tons a year by 2040.<\/p>\n

A lot of the Egyptian-made green hydrogen will be earmarked for export: <\/strong>Of the 9.2 mn tons of green hydrogen that Egypt wants to produce by 2040, the country wants to export 5.6 mn tons \u2014 amounting to an 8% market share of the global hydrogen market \u2014 an official at the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) told Enterprise. Developing the country\u2019s green hydrogen storage and transportation infrastructure will \u201cenhance Egypt\u2019s export capabilities,\u201d the source added.<\/p>\n

Big ambitions need big investments: <\/strong>By 2030, Egypt hopes to implement investments in the hydrogen sector amounting to EGP 5.4 tn (USD 174.5 bn) in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the official at the NREA added. Investor interest in Egypt is already focussed on green hydrogen, with last month\u2019s Egypt-EU Investment conference inking EUR 63.8 bn worth of green hydrogen and ammonia investments out of a total EUR 67.7 bn worth of investments inked throughout the conference.<\/p>\n

The big picture:<\/strong> UHS is seen as key to providing long-term flexibility for carbon-free electricity networks, but the price tag is steep. H2eart for Europe<\/a> estimates that between EUR 18 bn and EUR 36 bn will be needed for underground hydrogen storage systems in Europe alone, according to a <\/a>report (pdf)<\/a> from the institution.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s doable:<\/strong> Although UHS costs are \"extremely high, both in terms of technology used and specific costs,\u201d focusing on expanding production before implementing storage technologies could help balance costs, former NREA head Mohamed El Sobky told Enterprise. El Sobky cautioned that UHS operations may drive up prices in the short term, but added that focusing on production expansion first could help offset some of these costs.<\/p>\n

Storing power as green hydrogen has some important advantages over batteries:<\/strong> The H2eart for Europe group noted that while \u201cbatteries are sufficient to provide short-term flexibility by storing relatively low amounts of electricity with a rapid charge and discharge rate,\u201d these technologies \u201cfail to provide long-term flexibility due to limited electricity storage.\u201d Batteries are also expensive and the cost of storing electricity is currently more than the cost of electricity itself, Cairo Solar Managing Director Hatem Tawfik told Enterprise.<\/p>\n

What we lack are incentives,<\/strong> according to Tawfik, who sees that the spread of hydrogen projects depends mainly on areas where renewable energies from wind and solar are present. Tawfik called for more financing, land, and tax cuts to expand renewable energy efforts.<\/p>\n

We also need to only generate what we need until we develop storage infrastructure:<\/strong> Renewable energy production must go hand in hand with existing needs and export capabilities, according to El Sobky. Not doing so would be a large drain on investments as a lot of renewable energy produced would not be used, El Sobky added.<\/p>\n

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