The European Union needs a single and stimulative regulatory framework if we want to have green hydrogen as quickly as possible in large-scale economic applications and not just in theoretical discussions. ”Little by little, hydrogen also enters the practical area. There is a lot to do, there is a lot of understanding to be made, although hydrogen is not a new technology. We are in a completely different logic, and that somehow comes in particular from the area of general European policies. The Green Deal brings hydrogen to the foreground”, said Cătălin Stancu, associated Senior Expert, Horvath & Partners, during the ONLINE conference “Project Hydrogen – the Romanian debate”, organized by Energynomics.
“It is clear that we also need in Romania a stimulative regulatory framework, something that does not exist at the EU level either. There is also a need for economic logic – looking at costs, it is hard to speak about green hydrogen when we need to maintain economic competitiveness; there is a need for incentive mechanisms and the use of financing from European funds. Hydrogen is also an opportunity for the energy industry, as, to a large extent, it can solve the problems of increasing RES capacities.
We can’t have economic competitiveness in the Romanian industry if we don’t have energy at a price that would allow it,” he added.
According to ANRE, the price of energy on the PCCB market was 170 lei/MWh in 2017, 200 lei in 2018, 240 lei in 2019, 257 lei in 2020 even in the context of reduced demand. But currently, on the forward market, it reached 300 lei/MWh.
“We have a market problem because we have this structure which is unique in Europe, based on mono technology companies. This is why when the price is formed in a free market, we have the market closing on the latest technology accepted on the order of merit. In Romania, it is fossil fuel based, so CE Oltenia close the order of merit and it has the big problem of CO2 price. Finally, the tax on CO2 has increased in a very short period, from 20-25 euros per ton in 2019, to a maximum of 47 euros in March 2021,” Stancu said. However, technologies that we use are old and carbon emissions are high, which is reflected in the final energy price.
“It is clear that we urgently need new production capacities and, if possible, technologies with as low variable costs as possible. Renewables have zero variable costs, but they raise great challenges for the stability of the system. Without solutions to the intermittency problem, it is difficult to significantly increase green capacities in a Romanian energy system that has, anyway, big problems with the age of equipment – about 80% of the generation capacity at the national level is older than 30 years. This is why green hydrogen has this great opportunity to enter into an economic logic for developing this technology. Hydrogen can solve to a large extent the storage problem and it can allow significant renewable capacities to enter the market, which will help to the formation of the energy price,” he said.
The conference “Project Hydrogen – the Romanian debate” was organized by Energynomics, with the support of our partners Chimcomplex, Horvath & Partners, Kawasaki Gas Turbines Europe, Metachim, Renovatio, Siemens Energy, Solar Turbines.
More than 300 people registered on MyConnector platform to participate in the dialogue.
