The Government’s National Hydrogen Strategy envisages green hydrogen playing an important role as a zero-emissions alternative to fossil fuels in electricity generation where renewable energy is not available; in the storage of long-term renewable energies; in the decarbonization of industrial processes; and as a transportation fuel in sectors such as heavy goods vehicles, shipping and aviation. It is also exploring the possibility of Ireland becoming an exporter of green hydrogen.

However, for these lofty ambitions to be realised, Ireland must first produce sufficient gas reserves. This is easier said than done, since we are starting from scratch.

Currently, hydrogen is typically made using a process called steam-methane reforming. This uses natural gas as the base material and generates unnecessary byproducts. This is called gray hydrogen. When carbon capture and storage is added, it is called blue hydrogen. Further down the color spectrum is black hydrogen, produced from coal or lignite through a gasification process that produces even more undesirable byproducts.

Green hydrogen is created by electrolysis, from renewable electricity. Electrolysis is the process of using an electric current to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and when the electricity comes from renewable sources, there are no harmful byproducts.

Ireland’s green hydrogen ambition is based on the principle that when offshore wind becomes operational on a large scale, there will be times when excess electricity is produced and, rather than reject or reduce it, it will be used to power electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen. .

But this may not be as simple as many seem to assume. Stephen Prendiville, head of sustainable infrastructure at Deloitte, says many of the projections made for green hydrogen are based on the assumption that the electricity used to create it is free. Noting that black hydrogen can currently be produced for less than €2 per kg, he points out that if the capital cost of the offshore wind or solar farm used to produce the green equivalent were to be taken into account, the cost of production would be would be between €4 and €5 per kg.

“The challenge when thinking about the green hydrogen opportunity in terms of reduced energy use at zero cost is that it doesn’t help you make offshore wind power work,” explains -he. “So there needs to be a primary use of offshore wind and if it’s not green hydrogen, the government and regulators will need to create a guaranteed price for this energy in order to move projects forward.”

Prendiville believes Ireland’s ambition to become a hydrogen exporter may need to be rethought in the face of economic realities.

“Green hydrogen absolutely has a role to play in our decarbonization trajectory but it is not free,” he says. “It’s not this silver bullet for our future needs.

“If Ireland wants to export green hydrogen, it will compete in the raw materials market. If Ireland produces green hydrogen for export, we cannot rely on excess electricity as we will have contractual obligations to customers. The opportunity cost will not always be zero, it will be between €5 and zero. And we will have to compete with countries capable of producing it more cheaply than us.”

Security of energy supply currently represents the best case for green hydrogen production in Ireland, according to Prendiville’s estimate.

“That’s the only reason to think about it; otherwise we could just import it,” he says. “We can export hydrogen if our storage capacity is full. This is a completely different model than export first.

Wherever green hydrogen comes from, Gas Networks Ireland is preparing for it.

“We have been preparing for the integration and transportation of hydrogen on the grid for several years,” says Brian Mullins, director of hydrogen innovation at the organization. “This comes against the backdrop of a national hydrogen strategy which includes a proposal to reuse gas pipelines to transport hydrogen between production and demand areas.”

A dedicated hydrogen program team has been established to lead the necessary preparations.

“Our current focus is to undertake comprehensive testing of our pipelines and general network assets to confirm compatibility with hydrogen,” says Mullins. “We are working with a number of external parties on this, including academics, engineering specialists and other peer pipeline operators across Europe. This testing regime is part of a comprehensive review process to ensure the network is ready to accommodate hydrogen when it comes on board and to provide the necessary assurance that hydrogen can be transported safely on the gas network.

The long-term plan is to combine biomethane and green hydrogen to eventually replace natural gas on the grid and Mullins believes the main source of both will be domestic production.

“Hydrogen in Ireland will likely come from a mix of imports via interconnectors and domestic production via renewable energy sources,” he says. “The longer term plan to convert existing gas interconnections to transport hydrogen could provide the opportunity to both import and export hydrogen with interconnected Britain and European markets to take advantage of price signals, similar to what we see in existing electricity interconnections between the two jurisdictions.

“However, the basic assumption would be that, given the scale of offshore wind energy planned for Ireland, the main source of hydrogen in Ireland would be local green hydrogen from surplus renewable energy sources .”