Denmark's Role as Europe's Green Power Plant!

After recently starting an innovative hydrogen project where H-TEC was awarded the supply of the state of the art PEM electrolysers in Denmark, these are my reflections on the specific Danish context and its role in the geopolitical energy strategy for the EU.

Denmark seems to be very well positioned to become one of the leading producers of green hydrogen in Europe. I could say that this is mainly due to two reasons:

• its large wind resources
• the massive expansion of its offshore wind capacity, thanks in particular to the opportunities offered by the North Sea: steady winds, shallow waters and the proximity of large industrial energy consumers.

The Danish government seems to be aware of this and is working to increase the use of green hydrogen in sectors that rely on fossil fuels, such as shipping, aviation and heavy transport. But it also wants to make the country a major exporter of green hydrogen (both in Europe and internationally) by promoting technologies that convert excess energy into hydrogen through electrolysis. For example Denmark deployed one of the pioneer projects HyBalance years ahead of everyone else to test electrolysis and the implications of such technology when used to generate green hydrogen. HyBalance was one of the key references and magnificent achievements of my previous employer Cummins Hydrogenics.

Link to EU Project Objective.

Link from Airliquide about the project.

The so-called National Power-to-X Strategy for Hydrogen was published in 2021 and sets a target for electrolyser capacity of between 4 and 6 GW, while limiting CO2 emissions to between 2.5 and 4.0 million tonnes by 2030. In any case, the ultimate goal is of course for green hydrogen to completely replace fossil fuels.

In this context, I would like to highlight an agreement of international importance: last year, Denmark met with Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium to jointly promote offshore wind and green hydrogen in the North Sea. The pact envisages an investment of €135 billion in the development of both energies, with the aim of making the region the "green powerhouse of Europe" And I would not say they are wrong: Just last month the European Commission approved, under EU state aid rules, a €170 million Danish scheme to support the production of renewable hydrogen through power-to-x technologies. With this the country plans to support the up-scaling of the production of renewable hydrogen and derivatives, such as renewable ammonia, methanol and e-kerosene, using PtX technologies. The scheme will contribute to Denmark's efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Ambitious? Yes. Doable? Absolutely! I know the country very well from previous plans I have been involved in, and even now I am working on an innovative project underway with Norweigan Hydrogen. Denmark is not just another country in the Scandinavian region, and its strategic position and determination will accelerate the growth of a region that will be vital for the supply of hydrogen to Europe.

Photo: From Demo picture from our collaboration with Norwegian Hydrogen and Jens Peter Lunden. Link to my original post.

Norweigan Hydrogen Announcement can be found in this link

Joint declaration: Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium declared their cooperation to turn the North Sea into Europe's green power plant (May 2022).

Source: North Sea as Green Power Plant (Link)

Source: Official declaration.

#Scandinavia #Denmark #hydrogen #growth #hydrogenisnow