"We are helping to make the hydrogen economy happen"
At the Hyvolution trade show in Paris (February 1 and 2), a meeting place for hydrogen players in France and Europe, Equans' teams present the Group's offer in this sector.
Erik Groen, Director of the Hydrogen Task Force within the Group's Operational Excellence Department, gives an update on this sector at Equans.
What does the current energy crisis mean for hydrogen?
Green Hydrogen is already, now more than a year, better affordable than Blue Hydrogen due to the high gas prices. This was not foreseen for the coming 5 years by researchers in 2020. Green Hydrogen is powered by renewables. And Blue is powered by natural gas with a carbon capture solution. The difficulty is that there is very limited green hydrogen available at this moment. A lot of large projects are under development in UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Three random examples:
- 200MW in Dunkirk France, 280,000 tons of CO2 avoided each year, or the emissions of 160,000 cars,
- Holland Hydrogen: 200MW in the Netherlands, will produce up to 60,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen per day.
- The HyNet project in the UK : HyNet is the UK’s leading industrial decarbonisation cluster which, from 2025, will replace fossil fuel gas (reduction of 10 million tonnes of CO2) with low carbon hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.
Governments are getting ready to financially support large-scale projects, especially to become less dependent to import gas. An example is that the European Commission approved IPCEI Hy2use, a €5 billion plan to help finance 35 green hydrogen projects in 13 countries.
Erik Groen, Project Director Hydrogen Taskforce
Equans has not waited to position itself on this energy. What are the most promising projects?
Equans, together with Bouygues Energies & Services, has created an interesting position in recent years with real projects. The projects that are operational today are mostly containerized and small-scale (<5MW). Now with the growth to larger scale projects (>10MW), the need for an EPC contractor (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) or subcontractor with industrial expertise in high voltage, high pressure and process safety is getting more important to control the Balance of Plant. We have received in the last month invitations to support several large-scale projects between 15 and 100MW. I would like to mention 5 interesting international references from where we have gained expertise:
- We have already commissioned an industrial plant that mixes hydrogen with natural gas to test a gas turbine in Saillat-sur- Vienne (France). Axima was responsible for the mechanical and piping aspects and ERAS for the EPCM (Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management).
- The development of a 1-2MW hydrogen production plant by Bouygues Energies & Services Hydrogen & Smart Energies within the Alp'hyne Mont Blanc consortium (France).
- The construction of a 5MW hydrogen production unit by Kraftanlagen in Pfeffenhausen (Germany).
- The design, construction, operation and maintenance of the Tyseley ammonia cracker in the UK by Equans UK & Ireland. The cracking of ammonia into pure hydrogen makes long-distance hydrogen transport affordable.
- The development of a 1-2MW hydrogen production facility in the port of Den Helder in the Netherlands. Equans Netherlands is currently working on the finalization of the business case with strategic partners.
In 2023, how can all this develop?
In 2023 we see the market further accelerating, governments are more supportive, investors and developers are committed, and industrial users of hydrogen are ready to transform their production process. The Equans Group will continue to position further as an international partner in design, building and maintenance, with specific H2 engineering expertise. We are helping to make the hydrogen economy happen.
