We seldom write project proposals. But when we do with our partners, then it is something big, interesting and undoubtedly worth the effort.
In 2020 we won EUR 7 million for a large energy company to establish a green hydrogen plant in Hungary that should assist balancing the electricity network in the middle of the accelerating green transition.
Back in 2020, things did not seem as urgent and pressing in green energy transition as they are now. We did not have a war going on that changed everything, also in the energy market. However, with the solar power capacity rocketing in the past years in Hungary, energy companies and the government was aware that energy infrastructure would soon constitute a bottleneck.
They started to develop the grid to better fit the new requirements and also made plans for developing energy storage systems. There are many technologies available for this, both more conventional (like water pumping), rather new (like installation of large batteries) and emerging and developing ones, like hydrogen storage.
We, at DevEco, believe that hydrogen is a valid and promising technology that still offers much to explore. Producing green hydrogen via electrolysis from the excess production of solar power plants is a validated process, now even commercially. The green hydrogen produced may be used to fuel vehicles, trucks, trains, even boats now – or just store it for later when the energy demand requires. When combined with the extraction of CO2 to make up methane (that is more or less natural gas) it may even lead to new horizons.
If we can take CO2 from the atmosphere, combine it with green hydrogen produced by solar energy and use it as natural gas in the existing network, it could contribute to solving pressing challenges in both energy and climate change.
However, the green hydrogen business modell is still an issue globally, and in Hungary, too. Considerable grants are available to counteract tremendous initial costs and the following lock-in effect of those brave enough to enter the market first. The price of the technology is high, there are many risks to mitigate and at the end of the day, the new and expensive CAPEX is still there for decades for the pioneers – even if hydrogen prices in the meantime would go down.
We root for the hydrogen technology ever since, and after this first one, we have supported other hydrogen and energy storage projects in recent years. But this is to be shared later, in another post.
— The DevEco Consulting Team
(source of the photo: UN)