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ExxonMobil slams EU renewable H2 mandates

  • Spanish Market: Fertilizers, Hydrogen
  • 27/11/24

EU mandates for renewable hydrogen use by 2030 are jeopardising the bloc's industrial competitiveness and the Netherlands' plans for implementing the rules are "really problematic", according to ExxonMobil.

EU rules are "essentially not helpful" as they suffer from design issues and further threaten the bloc's industrial competitiveness, ExxonMobil Low-Carbon Solutions' policy manager Bert de Backker told the Argus Clean Ammonia Europe Conference in Rotterdam today.

Under the EU's revised renewable energy directive (RED III), member states must ensure that 42pc of their industrial hydrogen use is renewable by 2030 and meet a 1pc quota for use of renewable hydrogen or derivatives in transport by then.

Some industry participants might view this as helpful for driving ahead renewable hydrogen uptake and production, de Backker said. But the rules were developed based on "wrong" cost assumptions for renewable hydrogen and are set to disadvantage European producers compared with imports, he said. Industries that are subject to the mandate will struggle because the rules do not apply to imported products such as steel and chemicals, he said.

The focus on renewable hydrogen only means the mandates are a "technology bias policy," according to de Backker.

In addition, placing the same obligations on each country ignores the geographical diversity across Europe where hydrogen use varies considerably between member states and some regions have much more favourable conditions for renewable hydrogen production than others, de Backker said.

The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the carbon-border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) already provide a big incentive to switch to clean hydrogen use, he said.

Member states have until 21 May 2025 to transpose the EU rules into national laws and specify how they intend to meet the mandates.

But many member states are hesitant to transpose the rules, de Backker said. Industry participants at last week's European Hydrogen Week suggested that several member states could miss the May 2025 deadline.

This creates a lot of uncertainty and diverging implementation in different countries does not help the idea of a single market, de Backker said.

If "one or two" member states fail to implement the rules, the European Commission might launch an infringement procedure against them, de Backker said. But if the majority of countries do not follow the legislation, the commission is unlikely to do this, he said.

Pioneer problems

The Netherlands recently took on something of a pioneering role by laying out its plans in a draft law that was put forward for consultation.

The government is planning to introduce obligations for individual companies from 2026. It has yet to decide the level of the mandates, but is contemplating either 8pc or 24pc by 2030, partly depending on how EU peers are planning to reach the countrywide obligations.

The mandate plans are "really problematic" and jeopardise the competitiveness of Dutch industry, de Backker said.

Studies commissioned by the government for the lawmaking process pointed to the potential threat to industry, but while the government acknowledged this, it is still planning to go ahead with the obligations, he said.

ExxonMobil plans to reduce carbon emissions from its Dutch hydrogen production by capturing and sequestering CO2. This is an example of "real-life abatement" and could cut emissions by 60pc, de Backker said. "But now the government comes and tells us we still have to use green hydrogen," he said.

The focus should be on how emissions can best be abated and industry should decide what the best tools are for this, de Backker said.

The Dutch government is planning to exempt some of the country's ammonia production from the mandates, noting that the sector is at particular risk if forced to comply with higher obligations. The EU rules potentially provide some leeway for this, although the commission has not made clear exactly under which circumstances exemptions are possible — an approach which has led to confusion in the industry.

The commission has said in workshops that it will not clarify this further for now, de Backker said. It would only let member states know retroactively by the early 2030s whether their implementation of these specific rules for ammonia is appropriate. This is "a very strange situation" and "clearly the result of a messy political compromise", de Backker said.


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18/02/25

H2Med FID unlikely before 2028: Spain's Enagas

H2Med FID unlikely before 2028: Spain's Enagas

Paris, 18 February (Argus) — A final investment decision (FID) for the H2Med cross-border European hydrogen corridor is unlikely to be taken before 2028, according to Spanish gas transmission system operator (TSO) Enagas. The FID will "have to be connected to [the awarding] of European funding necessary to undertake the development of the infrastructure", a process that could take some years, Enagas' chief financial officer Luis Romero Urrestarazu said during the company's results call today. Enagas and the H2Med partners are carrying out preliminary studies, for which the European Commission approved funding of €97.3mn ($102mn), the Spanish firm said. Once studies are completed, the firms will "have to go through a whole series of procedures with the European institutions," Urrestarazu said. "We have to file the investment project with the regulators, and eventually, we'll be able to request the funds for construction," he said. Because of this process, Enagas does not see FID for H2Med being taken before 2028. The H2Med consortium will announce more details "when we have more visibility of the timeline," he said. The H2Med corridor aims to transport renewable hydrogen from production centres in the Iberia peninsular to buyers in Germany. Its promoters are targeting 2mn t/yr of transport capacity by 2030, but that appears to be an ambitious timeline with the FID still years away. Enagas plans to take FID for the Spanish hydrogen backbone, which is part of H2Med, by the end of 2027, targeting commissioning in 2030. The company received approval from the Spanish government in late 2023 to be provisional operator of the country's hydrogen grid. This allows it to start the public consultation process and the environmental impact plan, according to Urrestarazu. The Spanish network is planned to have 2,600km of pipelines, 21pc of which will be repurposed gas pipelines, and two underground storage facilities. The TSO is proposing extensions to the backbone's original plans following a recent market survey. In addition to the pipelines, Enagas is developing a network of six hydrogen refuelling stations in Spain, which is expects to start commissioning in 2027. The facilities are planned to have combined supply capacity for 6 t/d of hydrogen, which could refuel 300 trucks per day. Overall, Enagas plans to invest more than €3.1bn in hydrogen infrastructure until 2030. It is also developing infrastructure for CO2 capture, storage and liquefaction in industrial areas, as well as ammonia facilities around ports in Spain. By Pamela Machado Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Japan approves new energy mix target, climate plans


18/02/25
18/02/25

Japan approves new energy mix target, climate plans

Tokyo, 18 February (Argus) — Japan has approved its targeted power mix portfolio for the April 2040-March 2041 fiscal year, as well as its new greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal, it announced today. The new power mix goal, the centrepiece of the country's Strategic Energy Plan (SEP), is in line with Japan's aim to reduce GHG emissions by 73pc by 2040-41 compared to 2013-14 levels. Tokyo plans to submit the 2040-41 emission target, as well as a 60pc emissions reduction goal for 2035-36, to the UN climate body the UNFCCC on 18 February as the country's nationally determined contribution (NDC). The country has not made major changes to its draft proposal that it unveiled in December. The new SEP sees renewable energy making up 40-50pc of the country's power generation in 2040-41, up from 22.9pc in 2023-24. The share of thermal power will fall to around 30-40pc from 68.6pc, while that of nuclear will increase to around 20pc from 8.5pc during the same period. The 2040-41 target is based on Japanese power demand of 1,100-1,200 TWh, which is higher by 12-22pc from 2023-24. The government has planned the power portfolio so that it is not heavily dependent on one specific power source or fuel type, the country's minister for trade and industry (Meti) Yoji Muto said on 18 February, although the new plan suggests making maximum use of low-carbon power supply sources. Public consultation over 27 December-26 January revealed that some think Japan should slow or even stop the decarbonisation process, given the US government's reversal of its climate policies, including its withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, said Meti. But global commitment to decarbonisation will remain unchanged, said Muto, adding that Japan will lose its industrial competitiveness if the country delays green transformation efforts. But US president Donald Trump's "drill, baby, drill" policy has prompted the Japanese government to delete a segment from the draft SEP that had initially proposed bilateral co-operation through Tokyo's green transformation strategy and the US' Inflation Reduction Act. Despite Tokyo's decarbonisation goals, the new SEP assumes that fossil fuels, including natural gas, oil and coal, will still account for over 50pc of primary energy demand in 2040-41 in all of its scenarios — although this is down from 93pc in 2013-14 and 83pc in 2022-23. The scenarios vary based on the degree of uptake of renewables, hydrogen and its derivatives, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, to fulfil the 73pc emission reduction goal by 2040-41. Worst-case scenario Tokyo also has also set out a potential worst-case scenario, assuming slower development of clean technologies, in which fossil fuels would still account for 67pc of primary energy supply in 2040-41. Under this scenario, which assumes Japan will only reduce its GHG emissions by around 61pc by 2040-41, natural gas is estimated to account for about 26pc, or 74mn t, of Japan's primary energy supply, which is higher than the 53mn-61mn t in the base scenarios that are formulated in accordance to the 73pc emissions reduction target. Japan would need to address the potential 21mn t gap in gas demand, which will mostly be met by LNG imports, in 2040-41, depending on the development of clean technologies. The gap is equivalent to 32pc of the country's LNG imports of 65.9mn t in 2024. When asked by Argus whether the government will continue to try securing LNG to ensure energy supply security when considering the worst-case scenario, a Meti official said Tokyo should continue pursuing its 73pc GHG reduction target, but it is necessary to consider the potential risks for each individual policy and the measures that need to be taken, instead of making decisions based on the worst-case scenario. The new SEP has highlighted the role of LNG in the country's energy transition and the necessity to secure long-term supplies of the fuel. It is unclear what ratio gas-fired capacity will account for in Japan's 2040-41 power mix, as the SEP does not include a breakdown of thermal generation. But gas-fed output is expected to take up the majority share, given that gas has already outpaced coal in power generation and Tokyo has pledged to phase out inefficient coal-fired plants by 2030. By Motoko Hasegawa and Yusuke Maekawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Frustration over delays to UK CCS and H2 programmes


17/02/25
17/02/25

Frustration over delays to UK CCS and H2 programmes

London, 17 February (Argus) — Companies are growing increasingly frustrated with the UK government over unclear timelines and inadequate funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and clean hydrogen projects. The government has drawn strong praise for the design of its contracts-for-difference style production subsidies for electrolytic hydrogen and CCS systems to underpin low-carbon hydrogen from fossil fuels. But too few projects have been able to access the schemes and developers are losing confidence that the UK will match their ambition with sufficient and timely funding. "It's like building a great motorway with five lanes but very few, or no junctions," industry body OEUK's head of energy policy Enrique Cornejo said. "We have a great policy framework, but we don't have access, apart from a very small number of projects," he told the UK CCUS and Hydrogen Decarbonisation Summit in Leeds, northern England this month. Cornejo welcomed a recent final investment decision (FID) for the Teesside CCS system and progress made on northwest England's HyNet cluster, which is expected to reach FID this year, but he urged the government to set out funding and timelines for the Scottish "Acorn" and Humberside "Viking" CCS projects that are supposed to be next in line. "It's been a really long wait for these projects and the risk is very clear that if we don't hear some positive news from the government" there could be "lost investment", he said. It is a view shared by Norway's Equinor, which owns 45pc of the Teesside CCS project and a portfolio of Humberside hydrogen proposals that are in limbo having been overlooked in initial government selections. "Keeping projects on life support costs a lot of money," said the company's director of UK low-carbon solutions hydrogen, Dan Sadler. Equinor has spent "hundreds of millions" on its proposals for CCS-based hydrogen production, electrolytic hydrogen production, transport and storage infrastructure, he said. Sadler made the same appeal 12 months ago but has still received no update on the timing for the so-called "track 1 expansion process" which would allow its CCS-hydrogen project to move ahead. Optimism over the "fantastic" Teesside FID and contracts signed with three electrolytic projects must be balanced against concerns that HyNet has not reached FID nor have any of the UK's CCS-based hydrogen plants , Sadler said. On electrolytic hydrogen, the UK missed its deadline to shortlist winners of second round projects in 2024. Multiple electrolysis-focused developers at the Leeds conference talked of "standstill" in the sector, while financiers echoed the importance of the UK's second hydrogen allocation round (HAR2) shortlist. "We're waiting with bated breath for HAR2 so we know which projects we can look to finance," UK-based National Wealth Fund's managing director of banking and investments, Emily Sidhu, said. Opening applications for the UK's subsidy scheme for hydrogen pipeline and storage infrastructure has slipped to the fourth quarter of this year, which means it could be many months into 2026 before winners are selected and years until the projects get built. UK pipeline operators envy the government support that peers in continental Europe have received and have been trying to alert London about what companies perceive to be unduly arduous permitting processes, one pipeline firm told Argus . Emperor's new clothes The funding appeals come at a difficult time. The Labour government, which was elected last year, is reviewing spending across all departments, creating extra doubt. The total cost of the UK's ambitions for hydrogen and CCS would surpass several times over the £21.7bn ($27.3bn) for CCS and £2bn for electrolytic hydrogen that the government has confirmed for the first rounds. While raising funds from the government, the Emissions Trading System (ETS) or the so-called gas shipper obligation are possibilities, it is not sufficiently clear to give confidence to investors, Equinor's Sadler said. Moreover, the Labour administration has not said if it will stick to the former Conservative government's targets, Sadler noted. "It's rhetoric. Government policy for hydrogen and CCS? There isn't any. People quote 10GW [hydrogen production] and four [CCS] clusters by 2030 and 30mn t/yr [CO2 sequestration] by 2030. That's the Tory [Conservative] policy, the Labour government hasn't got a policy at the moment," Sadler said. The industry's belief in the UK as an investment proposition cannot be sustained forever, he said. The UK's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has not responded to questions about the Labour government's hydrogen targets. By Aidan Lea Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Peru backs Saudi critical minerals hub plan


15/02/25
15/02/25

Peru backs Saudi critical minerals hub plan

Munich, 15 February (Argus) — Peru's foreign minister Elmer Schialer today said he supports US policy backing Saudi Arabia's efforts to become a global critical minerals powerhouse, a strategy that aims to counterbalance China's dominance and bring down costs. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Schialer called the US approach "a good strategy". Schialer was responding to a question on whether the US' backing of Saudi Arabia's efforts to become a critical minerals refining and processing hub was a good idea. "I think we ought to give it a try, because when we have two, three or four main centers of refinement and the finalizing the product, the cost will also eventually go down, which is also very important, economically speaking," Schialer said. Led by the US, western countries are keen to loosen China's stranglehold on access to critical minerals. China controls about 90pc of the world's capacity for processing the minerals and has steadily tightened restrictions on exporting the materials and technology needed to process them. Beijing imposed new restrictions on exports to the US in late January in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on imports to the US from China. Saudi Arabia in recent years has made strides in positioning itself on the global critical minerals map. As part of its economic diversification plan Vision 2030, the kingdom aims to strengthen local processing and industrial value added, while building supply chains that are more resilient to global disruptions. Saudi Arabia also has reiterated its commitment to developing its substantial reserves of copper, gold, rare earths, potash, and bauxite, while also expanding domestic electric vehicle manufacturing. Riyadh in January unveiled plans to develop a new mineral investment project valued at $100bn, $20bn of which was already in the final engineering phase or under construction. The kingdom's Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources increased its estimate of the value of its unexploited mineral resources from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion in early 2024, boosted by new discoveries. State-controlled Aramco has also created a joint venture with Saudi state mining company Ma'aden to explore and produce energy transition minerals. By Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Weather to set the tone for ferts in Argentina


14/02/25
14/02/25

Weather to set the tone for ferts in Argentina

Sao Paulo, 14 February (Argus) — Climate conditions in Argentina and their impact on 2024-25 oilseed and grain crop output are expected to set the course for investments in fertilizers for the next season. Reduced liquidity prevails in Argentina, as the country is now in its off-season for fertilizer purchases. Wheat planting starts in May in main producing areas, while the first corn crop starts in September. One-off demand emerging for nitrogen has been covered by domestic production, according to market participants that operate in the region. Despite the reduced activity, granular urea in the domestic market has been firming, following the international market trend. Prices in the domestic market are referenced at $450/metric tonne (t) cfr equivalent, while Argus assessed granular urea at $445-455/t cfr Argentina on 13 February. Investments for fertilizers to be applied during the 2025-26 season are still uncertain in Argentina, as it faces unfavorable weather conditions because of the La Nina weather phenomenon, which may hamper farmers' profitability. Fertilizer usage in Argentina increased by 7pc to 4.9mn t in 2024 from the previous year, according to preliminary data from fertilizer association Fertilizar. That is the highest volume since 2021, when fertilizer usage reached a record high of 5.6mn t. Hydric stress lowers outlook for corn Corn planting finished in Argentina as of 13 February, while crop conditions continue to deteriorate because of extremely dry weather. Areas rated of good quality total only 16pc of the sowed area this cycle, falling by 49 percentage points from two months ago, according to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange (Bage). Areas sowed in October-November are likely to have suffered the most from the drought, as they reached their reproductive stages when weather conditions were most dire. Recent rainfall received by some Argentinian areas was not enough to reverse previous losses, while favoring crop development of later crops. Hydric stress caused production outlooks for the 2024-25 corn crop to decrease by 1mn t in February, according to Bage and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Bage and USDA now project volumes to total 49mn t and 50mn t, respectively. The reductions are curbed by planted area expansions of 300,000 hectares (ha) to 6.6mn ha in December, according to Bage, which has revised its acreage outlook upwards based on decisions from farmers to plant less soybean this season because of tight margins. Further downward revisions are likely to come in the next months, as the areas that were most affected by the lack of soil moisture are harvested, according to market participants. But farmers' profitability could still be high this season, as the global market is expected to face a supply shortage this year. USDA projects that global demand will surpass world production by 25mn t, boosting prices worldwide amid higher competition for the grain from major importers and domestic industries from key producers. Despite La Nina-related losses, Argentina is still the third largest corn exporter, behind only Brazil and the US. Fertilizer usage up in 2024 The increase of fertilizer usage in 2024 from 2023 reflects a 5pc increase in 2024-25 wheat acreage area from the previous season, reaching 6.3mn ha, according to Bage. Despite the corn area's nearly 17pc decrease to 6.6mn ha from 7.9mn ha, fertilizer usage for corn also increased in 2024, Fertilizar said. Farmers opted to plant the first corn crop instead of the second corn crop, which forced producers to invest in technology to plant, including fertilizer usage. The second corn crop is usually planted in December, when hot and dry weather conditions favor the development of leafhoppers. The decision came after Argentinian farmers struggled with the occurrence of leafhoppers in 2023, which hampered production. Granular urea imports increased by nearly 31pc to 1.1mn t in 2024 from a year prior, with Nigeria and Algeria accounting for 27pc and 25pc, respectively. Urea from Egypt significantly decreased its market share in 2024, representing almost 7pc of deliveries from 44pc in 2023. Egypt and Argentina have a free trade agreement that exempts some Egyptian products from tariffs. Imports from the country were significant until June and peaked in April at 34,225t, according to data from Global Trade Tracker (GTT). But the country provided zero volumes in July-November and sent only 4,400t to Argentina in December. The reduction of Egypt's market share came because of the Argentinian government's decision in early May to eliminate import tariffs of 5.4pc on urea and 3.6pc on UAN, making nitrogen-based fertilizers from other origins more competitive. By Renata Cardarelli and Nathalia Giannetti Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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