After years of promoting almost by himself hydrogen technologies, the conditions for a significant leap towards their application appear to be now met. The European strategy, to which Romania has joined, the funds made available for clean energy, simultaneously with the increased pressure on hydrocarbons, and finally, the resilience and recovery plans, accompanied by the funds available in the coming years – all of these are reasons for optimism. We talked to Dr Eng. Ioan Iordache, Executive Director of the Romanian Association for Hydrogen Energy.

Dear Mr Ioan Iordache, there are signs that hydrogen could replace fossil fuels in the next 4-5 decades. Is Romania ready for this transition? What are the advantages of Romania in advancing toward the widespread use of hydrogen for energy purposes?

At this stage of the energy transition, when the traditional fossil fuel technologies are to be replaced by technologies with no negative impact on the environment, hydrogen stands out from its unique characteristics. They allow hydrogen to be used for the storage and distribution of renewable energy in all forms of consumption. Combined with fuel cells, hydrogen is indeed capable of generating clean and efficient electricity without by-products except for heat and water.

In practice, we see how hydrogen shifts from chemistry to energy, where it will no longer be just raw material or fuel, but much more – it will be an energy carrier, as is the case with electricity.

I can tell you that in Romania hydrogen has been produced since the beginning of the last century and that, due to its specificity, the Romanian chemical industry has a long tradition of hydrogen-based activities. Since 2009, Rm. Vâlcea has a National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Center which has carried out numerous demonstration projects and is ready to support both industry and authorities in implementing new hydrogen technologies.

I can say that Romania has no reason to fear this transition! However, I have to say it again, especially for the authorities, but also for the industry: when it comes to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, it is not a bet, but an investment. It is the countries that are now the leading forces in this area, which already have mature technologies, that over the last two decades have invested constantly and progressively in this sector, with budgets of hundreds of millions of euros.

The advantages of switching to hydrogen are multiple, first of all for us and our children’s generation: cleaner environment, healthier air, especially in big cities, more thoughtful use of resources, sustainable development… and the list goes on. However, more specifically and in the shorter term, I can say that hydrogen allows

• the gradual replacement of obsolete installations with carbon-free infrastructure, thus helping us to reach our decarbonisation targets
• export of hydrogen produced from renewable sources
• expanding the solar and wind sector, as we can store some of these energies through conversion to hydrogen
• the use of hydrogen for mobility, which requires a special discussion
• offering an alternative to the salt extraction sector, because caverns can be built where hydrogen can be stored seasonally
• reducing the import of natural gas, because hydrogen can be introduced in certain percentages mixed with them and thus can be used in our homes for cooking and heating
• use of hydrogen-based technologies in the steel sector
• waste recovery, another technology of multivalent interest
• intersectoral coupling, in the longer term.

EU relies on electrolysis for hydrogen production. Is this solution mature enough to cover first and foremost all the ambitions expressed by the Union?

Yes, the electrolysis installations, electrolysers, are a mature technology now, and the ambitions of the companies in the field are indeed linked to the development of electrolysis installations of more than 100 MW in the shortest possible time, somewhere by 2023. The fact is that a 10 MW plant is now being built in Europe and another EU firm will build a 20 MW plant in Canada. The EU’s ambition is to develop a plan to achieve 40 GW of installed capacity for electrolysis installations by 2030 and even in neighbouring countries, to be able to import renewable hydrogen.

Renewable energy (photovoltaic and wind), natural gas, nuclear energy are the main primary energy options for hydrogen production. What is the best option from your perspective?

Hydrogen production technologies are at various stages. If some, I mean those in the chemical industry, which mainly use natural gas, are mature and well known, others are ready to start – I mean electrolysers. They can use electricity from carbon-free sources, which is obviously renewable, but also nuclear. Others are being studied – biohydrogen, hydrogen obtained by photocatalytic degradation of water, thermochemical water splitting, high-temperature electrolysis, etc. others are multivalent, I think about the recovery of household waste, which, among other things, can generate hydrogen.

The best option will result from having all interested parties on the same page – if only one of the partners is missing, the value chain cannot be complete. On this occasion, I mention that the Romanian Hydrogen Energy Association advocates for dialogue between all interested parties. Such a dialogue is indeed complex, but it must be attended by authorities, industry, society and professional associations. The Romanian Hydrogen Energy Association is one of them, recognized at the European and international level, with high profile members, both natural and legal persons.

If one of these parts is missing, it is like having a complex mathematical equation, which at the end of the day you multiply by zero.

We must use all we have – renewable energy, nuclear energy and, in the transition phase, naturally, natural gas. Fossil fuels will have to be phased out quickly enough, but without jeopardizing the safety and functionality of the energy system; however, not too late, to be left as an undesirable legacy for future generations.

What you think will be the first forms of large-scale commercial use of hydrogen in Europe (power generation, transport, heating). What about Romania?

In Romania, some directions are distinguished which have the potential as first forms of commercial use, as you say. I am referring to the export of clean, carbon-free hydrogen and the use of hydrogen in public passenger transport, with hydrogen buses already a reality. I would remind you that, with the help of the Association, such a bus has circulated for a few days in Bucharest in the summer of 2019. Then we can also think about injecting hydrogen into the natural gas network or perhaps creating micro-grids for pure hydrogen, as well as using waste and biomass to support hydrogen production.

For Europe, the options are even more numerous.

The transition to hydrogen will most likely involve several decades of synergistic use of traditional and new energies. What is the most likely formula in which you see hydrogen as a relevant factor in the energy industry?

The targets, the maturity and implementation horizon at such a level to dominate other technologies is the year 2050, but it remains to be seen if it is realistic. What is certain is that hydrogen and traditional energies, as you call them, will coexist. And, let’s face it, they will not remove each other, it will be an evolutionary transition from one generation to the next. This is the successful formula for hydrogen, too, like any other technology. Hydrogen comes with extra elements that other technologies in the energy sector do not have, filling certain gaps in renewable technologies that have now gained momentum. For renewable energies, their transport in space, i.e. from one corner of the country to another, from Dobrogea to Cluj-Napoca, for example, is not a problem. The problem is that they are fluctuating, vary from one hour to another and from one season to another. Hydrogen is relevant here, as it can be produced when there is excessive wind or sun electricity in the system, and use whenever needed, in a few hours, weeks, or the next season. Hydrogen fills in that missing link in the renewables sector, which is energy storage. Energy storage is still a challenge when we talk about grid balancing services – one more reason to talk about the coexistence of hydrogen with the current system and the fast development for the next one.

Beyond production costs (both initial investment and operating costs), storage and transport seem to be the major challenges for the wider use of hydrogen. What are the evolution options you see most likely in the coming years?

Hydrogen production and storage are known. It has been transported since the chemical hydrogen industry was in place. There are thousands of kilometres of hydrogen pipelines in Europe and the US, over 4.500, and companies like Air Liquide, Air Products, Linde and Praxair control about 90% of these networks. The oldest hydrogen transport pipeline has been 215 kilometres long and has been in operation since 1938.

The real challenge is hydrogen corridors!

The hydrogen corridor means the import supply chain, including production in the country of origin and transport at the border of the country of destination. Hydrogen corridors will grow after 2030, when demand for hydrogen increases sufficiently, production costs will decrease and hydrogen production will be based on renewable energy resources. Thus, hydrogen imports could first start on those corridors that have a minimal impact on the environmental. In this context, I must point out that the Danube has the chance to be the first hydrogen corridor that will link Europe from east to west, and this is not a fantasy, you can see the Green Hydrogen @ Blue Danube project.

In concrete terms, what should Romania do (authorities, private environment, academia) to quickly join the hydrogen race and benefit from it?

I am neither a minister nor a businessman, so I can’t tell you what the authorities and the private sector have to do. I know what the research does because I work in this field and I invite you to visit the Institute’s site in Rm. Vâlcea to discover its competences – www.icsi.ro. The fact that the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, visited the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Center in Vâlcea last autumn says a lot about our research work.

The Romanian Hydrogen Energy Association sent the first signal to Romanian authorities in 2013, just after its establishment. We then presented to the National Authority for Scientific Research, as it was called at the time, the need to implement a program to support research, development and innovation in the field of hydrogen. In 2014 we addressed the Department of Energy, the Ministry of Energy, now, asking for hydrogen to be included in Romania’s energy strategy. In 2016, through our members, we contributed to the establishment of Technical Committee No. 395 “Hydrogen in Energy systems” within the framework of the Romanian Association for Standardization (ASRO). In 2018, we worked with various entities to implement Government Decision No. 87 of 18 March 2018 on the National Policy Framework for Market Development for alternative fuels in the transport sector and the deployment of the relevant infrastructure in Romania.

In 2020, we supported, as a partner, the Department of Sustainable Development in the organizing of a public event entitled “RO-HYDROHUB, Hydrogen as an alternative energy vector”. Partners at the event were also the Ministry of European Funds, the National Research and Development Institute for Cryogenic and Isotopic Technologies – ICSI Râmnicu Vâlcea and The Polytechnic University of Bucharest.

Obviously, we aim to continue to contribute to this collective effort to support hydrogen this year as well.

—————————————-

This interview firstly appeared in the printed edition of Energynomics Magazine, issued in March 2021.

In order to receive the printed or electronic this issue of Energynomics Magazine, we encourage you to write us at office [at] energynomics.ro to include you in our distribution list. All previous editions are available HERE.