ICIS Hydrogen Insights

On 8 July the European hydrogen market welcomed the much-anticipated delegated act for low-carbon hydrogen, which sets the rules for hydrogen produced via multiple different pathways, which still aim to achieve low levels of greenhouse gas emissions.  In this episode, ICIS head of energy transition pricing, Alice Casagni, and ICIS hydrogen editor Jake Stones discuss the delegated act, the key points to come from the rules and what this means for European hydrogen moving forward. 

In episode 21 of the ICIS Hydrogen Insights podcast, hydrogen editor Jake Stones speaks with Environmental Defense Fund executive director for Europe Helen Spence-Jackson on the impact hydrogen could have on the environment as an indirect greenhouse gas and associated emissions from production processes.  Over the course of the episode, Helen and Jake discuss the intricacies of hydrogen, how a potential climate solution for hard-to-abate sectors could still pose risks and what practices to consider when aiming to avoid them.

In episode 20 of the ICIS Hydrogen Insights podcast, ICIS hydrogen editor Jake Stones is joined by two experts from the energy storage industry to discuss the topic of storing hydrogen to support the future energy system. Jake is joined by Daniel Mercer, managing director Storengy Deutschland and Florent Lejette, director of strategy and business development Storengy. The group discuss key topics from the hydrogen storage world, such as developing hydrogen storage, how much using storage can save participants on a €/kg basis, what storage costs could be and, importantly, how much hydrogen storage will Europe need by 2030. As well as this, the trio discuss the multiple projects and learnings from Storengy’s activities in the hydrogen storage sector.

In episode 19 of the ICIS Hydrogen Insights podcast, hydrogen editor Jake Stones meets with ICIS senior ammonia editor Sylvia Tranganida to discuss today’s global ammonia market. The pair review the current supply/demand balance of grey ammonia today and whether this balance could shift in the future, as well as whether price levels from the 2021-2022 commodity price spike are likely to return. Looking to the future, Sylvia explains the interest the current ammonia market has in decarbonizing and how renewable and low carbon ammonia trade is developing.

In episode 18 of the ICIS Hydrogen Insights podcast, ICIS global hydrogen editor Jake Stones is joined by Matthieu Boisson, managing director for CertifHy, a voluntary hydrogen certification company. Matthieu explains the impact of the European Commission’s “positive technical assessment” for RFNBO certifiers, as well as the commercial value hydrogen certificates could hold. Beyond this, Matthieu’s experience with companies seeking pre-certification sheds light on where Europe stands as a global market leader. Finally, the pair discuss whether there is interest in low-carbon hydrogen certification. 

On 11 July, H2Global Holding and Hintco announced it had accepted Fertiglobe’s bid of €1000/tonne of renewable ammonia into the Port of Rotterdam as the sole winner of the H2Global pilot auction programme.  In this episode of the ICIS Hydrogen Insights podcast, ICIS hydrogen editor Jake Stones sits with the co-founder of the H2Global mechanism and H2Global Holding and Hincto CEO Timo Bollerhey to discuss the results of the auction, the status of the contract between Fertiglobe and H2Global and the role that the H2Global mechanism plays in the evolution of the hydrogen market. Finally, the pair discuss in detail the conditions around the E-SAF lot for the pilot auction, which received no bidders. 

How long does the world's current grey hydrogen production fleet have left on average? And why do autothermal reformers with carbon capture and storage appear to be the replacement technology of choice for low-carbon hydrogen producers? In this episode of the ICIS Hydrogen Insights podcast, hydrogen editor Jake Stones discusses these matters and more with Johnson Matthey's senior vice president of hydrogen and sustainable technologies, Dr Eugene McKenna.    Dr McKenna also gives his take on the prospect of retrofitting steam methane reformers with CCS, and the risks facing hydrogen market participants today when developing their projects. 

In this UK general election special, ICIS hydrogen editor speaks with Rob Dale, founder and director of UK consultancy Beyond2050, which supports organisations in meeting policy and commercial objectives with a mind to building a more sustainable future.  Over the course of the episode, Jake and Rob review which parties have committed to hydrogen for the election and what makes this election the biggest for hydrogen so far.

ICIS hydrogen editor Jake Stones meets with Hydrogen Europe CEO Jorgo Chatzimarkakis to discuss some of the largest developments to befall the EU hydrogen market this year, namely the progression of the Net Zero Industry Act, the new terms and conditions for the second EU Hydrogen Bank auction, and lastly the results of the pilot auction were published to the market, indicating the first projects to be granted a fixed subsidy via the bank’s mechanism.  Over the episode Chatzimarkakis weighs in on key considerations around these topics, such as what the budget might be for the second auction, how the criteria for the new auction has changed compared to the first, and the importance of the pilot auction's results are for the wider European hydrogen economy. 

On 19 April 2024, the UK government’s hydrogen support scheme Hydrogen Allocation Round 2 (HAR2) closed for applications. To review the support programme and the current position of the UK hydrogen market, ICIS hydrogen editor Jake Stones speaks with hydrogen consultant and demand-side project manager Duncan Yellen. Over the conversation, Yellen outlines: -          Potential challenges facing the UK’s hydrogen development plans-          The best markets for selling hydrogen today and their price points-          What is the impact of transporting hydrogen-          When can a tradeable hydrogen market emerge?