Germany's Greens warn on electrolyser power

Germany's opposition Green party has demanded that electrolysers receive cheap electricity only in times of abundant renewable power, to ensure they base their production on the availability of solar and wind electricity.

The electricity used by electrolysers to produce hydrogen should be exempted from certain levies only in times when there is sufficient renewable power in the system, and taking into account the effect on grid bottlenecks, the Greens' parliamentary energy economy spokesperson Ingrid Nestle said at an online event this week. This would also give the industry a "clear orientation on where we are heading to", thereby providing investment security, Nestle said.

Nestle criticised the government's decision to grant all electrolysers an exemption from the renewable power EEG levy, which this year stands at €65/MWh. This could even extend the life span of coal-fired plants, Nestle warned, adding that at least the hours in which coal-fired power generation is dominant should not be exempted. Limiting the exemption to hours with higher renewable availability would also help reduce "very" low wholesale power prices, thereby supporting renewable generators, she said.

Nestle stressed that the Greens are not demanding that electrolysers be run only in times of excess — and normally curtailed — renewable power supply, as this would amount to just 1pc of power generation volumes. But she warned that it will not be enough to "wave around with guarantees of origins [GOO]" to "green-wash" hydrogen.

The head of the ministry for economic affairs and energy's energy efficiency, gaseous fuels, and heating networks sub-division, Ulrich Benterbusch, cautioned against the Greens' demands at the event. As long as the hydrogen market is under development, "the bar should not be set too high", Benterbusch said. To an extent, the Greens' demands would be tantamount to demanding that electric vehicles (EVs) be charged "only when [car group] VW puts green power into the grid", Benterbusch said, adding "we cannot apply double standards".

EVs are viewed as having zero carbon emissions under EU and German vehicle emissions standards.

Germany's government is working on ways to prove the green quality of hydrogen, which it will "discuss" with the European Commission, the government said in an answer to a parliamentary query published this week. Benterbusch pointed out that the commission is itself drawing up criteria, to be finalised by the end of this year, on how to assess the green quality of hydrogen used as a road fuel.

Blue hydrogen Benterbusch reiterated the German government's stance that for an interim time, roughly until 2030, blue hydrogen — produced from fossil fuels but with all of the carbon emissions captured and stored — will be needed to get the market up and running.

But Nestle warned against expectations of "massive" availability of blue hydrogen in the next few years. And given the fact that blue hydrogen would need to account for its carbon emissions, for instance from methane slip, the price for blue hydrogen is likely to be higher than for green hydrogen, Nestle said.

Polls suggest the Green party will almost certainly form part of the next federal government, following the general election in September.

German hydrogen strategy advances Germany's hydrogen import project H2Global, a cornerstone of the country's hydrogen strategy, is expected to be finalised by early next year, Benterbusch said.

Under the project, the German government, through a private foundation, will import green hydrogen from international partners, to be auctioned to domestic companies.

The government expects Germany to import about three-quarters of the green hydrogen the country will need in the future.

Under the country's hydrogen strategy, Germany is expected to produce about 14TWh of green hydrogen by 2030, on the basis of generating 20TWh of renewable power, assuming average running hours for electrolysers of 4,000 hours/yr.

Around 160 hydrogen project proposals have so far applied for support under Germany's hydrogen strategy, amounting to about 200 projects including follow-up applications, Benterbusch said. The government will end up supporting only a fraction of the proposed projects, but the large number reflects the "scale of commitment throughout the industry", Benterbusch said.

By Chloe Jardine

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