Prepping for a Hydrogen Heyday

By Luke King

From Canada and Saudi Arabia to India and Europe, hydrogen projects are taking shape across the world, offering project forwarders an exciting new business line. From Issue 2, 2024 of Breakbulk Magazine, project professionals from GAC Germany, Baker Hughes, and NEOM Green Hydrogen Company assess the opportunities.


Project forwarders are increasingly preparing to serve the hydrogen industry, buoyed by substantial investment in clean technology and favorable international environmental policies.

In Europe, shipping and logistics group GAC has opened a new office in Stade – with one eye on future hydrogen investment in Germany. “As hydrogen grows in popularity and becomes more commercially viable as an alternative fuel source, there is no question that hydrogen production – especially the set-up of new hydrogen production facilities – will generate business for companies involved in the project cargo supply chain,” Thies Holm, managing director of GAC Germany, told Breakbulk.

“Components for the plants are not produced onsite and their dimensions usually make them perfect for handling as project cargo. As the magnitude of production grows, those components will get even bigger. This is comparable with oil and gas refining projects we have worked on in the past, which saw multiple shipments being transported from specialized facilities around the world. We would expect to see a similar scenario for future hydrogen projects.”

Explaining the rationale behind January’s office opening in Stade, the executive elaborated: “Germany has made a long-term commitment to developing renewable energy sources, including hydrogen, and the Port of Stade is set to play a key role in the construction of production facilities in the region. Aside from the environmental appeal, the economic argument for hydrogen is also becoming more compelling.

“Production costs are falling, more advanced technologies are being developed, and federal initiatives such as the National Hydrogen Strategy are making hydrogen significantly more appealing to investors. GAC Germany has had ship agency services in the region for some time, culminating in the decision in late 2023 to set up a permanent base at the port to support Germany’s long-term targets.”

Holm said he was “confident” about the development of hydrogen plants in the coming years, pointing to Germany’s National Hydrogen Strategy, which includes the completion and conversion to hydrogen of 1,800 kilometers of pipelines by 2027/28. Existing onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals are also supposed to be hydrogen-ready, enabling them to switch promptly once LNG imports are stopped.

“To meet this expected rise in demand, Germany’s port infrastructure must be expanded and improved in the coming years. We expect the Port of Stade to become a critical import location for hydrogen and other renewable energy options, hence our decision to open an office there. This switch to hydrogen will not happen overnight but we have already begun our preparations to be ready when it does,” Holm concluded.


COP Accord

New hydrogen projects could soon be underway across Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and MENA following the signing of a strategic development agreement at the UN’s Climate Change Conference, COP28, held in Dubai last December.

Masdar, also known as the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, said it would team up with Hy24, the world’s largest clean hydrogen pureplay investor, to spend up to US$2bn on large-scale green hydrogen projects in various global markets.

The two companies agreed a framework to explore the development and investment in projects along the “Power-to-X value chain”, which involves producing renewable power converted via electrolyzers into green hydrogen and, subsequently, its derivatives such as green ammonia, e-methanol, sustainable aviation fuel and liquid hydrogen.

“Hydrogen is unanimously recognized as one of the most promising tools for the energy transition, a view that has been reinforced at COP28,” said Pierre-Etienne Franc, co-founder and CEO of Hy24. “Our joint agreement aims to unlock investments for some of the largest and most strategic green hydrogen projects in the world. We need to see more capital allocated by institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds to climate action.”

Also in December, the UK said it would support 700 new hydrogen jobs with funding worth £2bn over the next 15 years. The UK will back 11 major projects to produce green hydrogen via electrolysis and has confirmed suppliers will receive a guaranteed price from the government for the clean energy they supply. Energy secretary Claire Coutinho said the funding would help deliver 125 megawatts (MW) of new hydrogen for businesses, including PD Ports in Teesside, which will use hydrogen to replace diesel in their vehicle fleet, decarbonizing port operations from 2026.


Europe’s Hydrogen Backbone

The European Union, meanwhile, adopted the 6th list of Projects of Common Interest, or PCIs, in November. The list details initiatives which the European Commission has identified as key to integrating energy infrastructure in the EU and are therefore eligible to receive public funds.

For the first time, the list includes 65 hydrogen-related projects, though most of those selected are located in Western Europe and just two were offshore pipeline projects. “The inclusion of hydrogen projects for the first time in a PCI list is a major step forward and shows Europe’s commitment to lay the foundation of a European hydrogen backbone,” said Daniel Fraile, chief policy officer at Hydrogen Europe, an organization which seeks to promote the sector. “This first selection process is also a valuable lesson learnt. We will be working with our members to ensure the next list includes more diversified projects - both type wise and geographically.”

As Breakbulk went to press, representatives of hydrogen associations in nine central European and Baltic states signed a cooperation agreement in Paris, pledging to develop the hydrogen sector in the region. The agreement was concluded at February’s Hyvolution conference by the 3 Seas Hydrogen Council, which plans to represent the sector in the European Commission and Parliament. Its aims include supporting regional funding and encouraging joint hydrogen projects in the participating countries, which include Poland, Czechia and Hungary.

Further afield, India’s largest state-owned oil and gas company, ONGC, said it would spend US$10bn on two green hydrogen and ammonia projects by 2035, plus US$12bn on installing 10 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy assets by 2030. ReNew Power, one of India’s largest renewable-energy developers, has reportedly proposed a 2GW green hydrogen and ammonia project in the southwestern state of Kerala.


Hydrogen ‘Milestones’

In January, Baker Hughes, the Houston, Texas-based oilfield services and energy technology company, said it had achieved a number of “milestones” that it said would support the entire hydrogen value chain – from production to transportation and utilization.

Among the developments announced was the opening of a new hydrogen testing facility in Florence, Italy – a manufacturing site that will be used to further support the deployment of hydrogen-ready technologies and serve as a hub for Baker Hughes’ collaboration with its customers.

The company, which began working on hydrogen projects in the 1910s, said it had recently concluded manufacturing and testing of its NovaLT™16 hydrogen turbines for Air Products’ Net-Zero Hydrogen Energy Complex in Edmonton, Canada.

The turbines underwent full load testing at the newly unveiled Florence facility and form part of a family of turbines that can be deployed for a variety of industrial applications, including combined heat and power, as well as for pipeline and gas storage operations.

Baker Hughes also reported progress on another Air Products’ hydrogen project, with the delivery of the first two trains of advanced hydrogen compression solutions for the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia, the largest green hydrogen project in the world. It has recently expanded its manufacturing site in Modon, Saudi Arabia, to further support the delivery of projects in the country, including NEOM.

“These low-carbon and carbon-free energy advancements illustrate how the urgency of the energy transition has transformed customer relationships into comprehensive partnerships for innovation across several projects,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, chairman and CEO of Baker Hughes. “There is no path to net-zero without innovation and collaboration, and our work with customers and partners, including Air Products, is proving the validity of the hydrogen economy.”


NEOM Shipments

The NEOM project is already generating work for multipurpose shipping line Chipolbrok, which has delivered wind turbines to the port of NEOM in northwest Saudi Arabia for NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC).

In November, NGHC said it had taken an initial delivery of the wind turbines to power the world’s largest green hydrogen plant, with 250 turbines expected to be installed to power the facility via a dedicated electricity transmission grid.

NGHC’s facility, located in Oxagon, NEOM’s industrial city, will integrate as much as 4 GW of solar and wind energy to produce up to 600 tonnes of carbon-free hydrogen daily. Once the plant is fully operational in 2026, 100 percent of the green hydrogen produced will be available for global export in the form of green ammonia, through an exclusive long-term agreement with Air Products.

David R. Edmondson, chief executive officer of NGHC, said: “This is the first of a series of major equipment deliveries arriving over the next year. We continue to make great progress and are on track to start exporting green hydrogen in 2026. It is a major milestone in NGHC’s journey to becoming a leader in green hydrogen and a major step forward in Saudi Arabia and the wider region’s energy transition.”


GAC, Port of Stade, and PD Ports will be exhibiting at Breakbulk Europe 2024 on 21-23 May in Rotterdam.

TOP PHOTO: GAC has opened an office at the Port of Stade, Germany. CREDIT: Ulrich Wirrawa
SECOND: A Baker Hughes NovaLT16 gas turbine. CREDIT: Baker Hughes