Green Hydrogen:

Cornerstone of a sustainable energy future

siemens-energy.com
 Green Hydrogen | Whitepaper

Introduction
In the coming decades, the world faces the immediately using electrification with
complex challenge of maintaining economic renewables. Additional solutions are thus
growth while simultaneously reducing and required for achieving the ambitious targets
mitigating the effects of CO2 and other that national governments, regional
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To avoid a organizations, and international bodies have
climate catastrophe, the global economy can set under the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit the
only emit approximately another 700 GtCO2 increase of global temperature this century to
until 2100, which effectively means we need to less than 2 °C over pre-industrial levels, and to
achieve “net zero” emissions by 2050. The keep it to 1.5 °C, if possible.
transition to a sustainable energy system will
need to be achieved amid the twin challenges Additionally, in 2015, as part of its 2030 Agenda
of a rising global population, which is expected for Sustainable Development program, the UN
to reach 10 billion by 2055, and an expanding adopted a set of 17 Sustainable Development
middle class in emerging markets adding to Goals (SDGs). Among these are affordable and
energy consumption. clean energy (SDG 7) and climate action (SDG
13), both of which will require sustained
This means that a collective effort will have to measures to transform the world’s energy and
be made involving drastic reductions in energy- power supply in a way that facilitates other
related CO2 emissions – for instance, through goals such as eliminating poverty (SDG 1),
measures to boost energy efficiency and economic growth (SDG 8), resilient
savings, but also by integrating more renewable infrastructure, industrialization, and innovation
energy, by decarbonizing the mobility and (SDG 9), and sustainable cities and communities
industry sectors and other infrastructures, and (SDG11). If these goals are to be mutually
through sector coupling, to name just a few compatible, new approaches and innovative
levers. However, there are certain elements of solutions will be required.
the energy system such as heating, feedstock
for the chemical industry, or heavy-duty
mobility that cannot be decarbonized

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A potential
game-changer

A number of countries have already embarked on a path towards a full-scale

energy transition by creating market incentives for renewable energy, by fostering
research and development, and by adopting other measures and policies aimed
at increasing the share of clean energy in their energy mixes. Investment in
renewables is now driven mostly by private capital and stands at about US$330
billion per year. However, the full potential of renewables has yet to be unleashed
by creating more storage capacity, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, and making
distributed energy systems more flexible and resilient.

Faced with these challenges, engineers and policymakers are increasingly looking
to the use of hydrogen as a potential game-changing technology.

Hydrogen is a highly efficient energy carrier, and upon combustion, the only
byproduct of this zero-emissions fuel is water. This makes it an ideal medium for
electrification and the substitution of fossil fuels in industrial processes and other
applications. As a means of high-capacity energy storage, it facilitates fast
response for primary frequency reserve service, and it opens up new avenues for
sector coupling (curtailment, peak shaving in countries where this may be needed,
etc.). As such, the opportunities offered by synthetic H2 produced with renewable
energy, also known as “green hydrogen”, could help overcome several obstacles
on the path toward a full-fledged revolution of energy systems.
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1. Decarbonization:
From hydrocarbons
to hydrogen
The share of renewable energy in global power scenario will not be achievable. If renewable
generation is growing daily. In fact, in 2019, the energy sources are to form the backbone of CO2-
combined capacity of new solar and wind free economies, more measures will be needed,
generation exceeded all other forms of power and it will be necessary to find ways of
generation capacity. In 2019, Germany covered 42 decarbonizing sectors that currently rely on fossil
percent of its total electricity demand using energy consumption, including industry, mobility,
renewables. In 2020, the EU exceeded its goal of or construction.
20 percent green energy, generating 38 percent
of energy from renewables. As part of its Green
New Deal program, Brussels aims to foster inte-
grated ecosystems focused on climate neutrality
and digital leadership, including a new European
Clean Hydrogen Alliance. The European Commis-
sion has also proposed to increase the EU’s ambi-
tion on reducing greenhouse gases and set a
more ambitious target of a cut of at least 55
per-cent by 2030, as part of a broader plan to
becoming climate neutral by 2050.

Nevertheless, despite these encouraging

developments, at the current pace of emissions
and energy consumption, the two-degree

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Catalyst for transition

Hydrogen generated with renewables could play a

key role in accelerating this transition by facilitating
long-term storage of renewables and balancing out Hydrogen can accelerate
grid fluctuations caused by non-dispatchable the energy transition by…
sources. This flexibility, experts believe, will have to
double by 2040. At the same time, power-to-gas –
the technology of using electricity, especially surplus • Enabling large-scale renewable energy
green power, to produce gas fuel by way of integration and power generation

electrolysis – makes it possible to electrify those • Distributing energy across sectors and
sectors that are currently still reliant on hydrocarbons regions
and to make that power usable to transport goods
• Acting as a buffer to increase energy system
and people, for making steel and cement, or as
resilience
feedstock for the chemical industry. Establishing
such an energetic link between previously separated • Decarbonizing various sectors:
sectors by way of renewables – also known as “sector • transportation
• industrial energy use
coupling” – can reduce primary fossil energy
• building heat and power
consumption by 50 percent despite growing power • feedstock and chemicals for industry,
demand. Generally, a more diversified fuel supply e.g., ammonia, methanol, syn fuels, etc.
would also help to improve energy security, and
some countries with cheap and abundant renewable
power could dedicate that capacity entirely to
making green hydrogen for local consumption and
export.
Large-scale integration of hydrogen and
Exhibit 5: Hydrogen demand could increase 10-fold by 2050 related commodities would also further
Global energy demand supplied with hydrogen, EJ
foster the demand for renewable power
generation, creating a self-sustaining
incentive towards an economically viable
and ecologically sustainable energy system.
The International Renewable Energy Agency
(IRENA) predicts that approximately 4-16 TW
of solar and wind generation capacity will
need to be deployed for producing renewable
hydrogen and hydrogen-based products by
2050, compared to a total global power
generation capacity of 7 TW today, which
includes 1 TW of solar and wind power
capacity in place.

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Fuel of the future

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the energy, it will have to be generated on an
universe. On our planet, it occurs mostly in industrial scale using renewables, including by
molecular form as water or as the highly harnessing some of the up to 1,000 W/m2 of
combustible H2 gas, which when compressed annual surface irradiance that the sun – a great
has twice the energy density by mass of burning mass of hydrogen – sends to earth
methane. Almost all our chemical fuels are under ideal conditions.
based on hydrogen, although in a bound form
as hydrocarbons or other hydrogen compounds. This may be possible within a decade, given the
The global production of pure hydrogen is 80 rapid scale-up of electrolyzers from megawatt-
million tonnes per year, with half as much to gigawatt-scale and the gradual improvement
again produced in admixture with other gases. of the technology. Today, the CAPEX for
That accounts for approximately 14.4 exajoules electrolyzers stands at US$600-800/kW, which
(EJ), or 4 percent of global final energy and could decline significantly within two or three
non-energy use. decades, together with renewable electricity
costs. This could bring down the localized cost
Today, about 95 percent of that output is of producing H2 to as little as US$1.00-1.50 per
generated from fossil fuels (“grey hydrogen”, kg by 2050, so that renewable hydrogen will
see below), which causes 830 million tonnes of soon become the cheapest clean hydrogen
CO2 per year, or more than 2.4 percent of supply option for many greenfield applications.
global carbon emissions. The remaining 5 The technology is especially attractive in
percent of output is the by-product of chlorine countries where hydrogen can be deployed
production through electrolysis. But if synthetic using an existing natural gas infrastructure.
hydrogen is to make a meaningful contribution
to a global transition towards sustainable

Fig.2 | Cost of electrolyser technologies for PtG application. Cost data are from multiple sources
for alkaline electrolysis (AEL) and PEM electrolysis (see Methods for details)

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The hydrogen spectrum

Today, however, nearly all synthetic hydrogen is • Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis
produced with fossil fuels. Three main methods of water using only renewable, CO2-free elec-
of sourcing hydrogen can be distinguished: tricity sources. While the process is already
grey, blue, and green hydrogen. viable, the speed of its adoption will depend
on the cost of electrolyzers, supply chain logis-
• Grey hydrogen is obtained by steam reforming, tics, and regulatory policies in support of
i.e., converting natural gas or coal under heat H2-based sector coupling.
into H2 and CO2, with about 10t of CO2 being
released into the atmosphere as GHG for each Though green hydrogen is still in its infancy, it
tonne of hydrogen produced. H2 sourced from is seen as a technology with enormous poten-
methane creates about 285 grams of CO2 emis- tial both for commercial reasons and in the
sions per kWh, while coal gasification has an context of climate action. Currently, about 3.2
emission factor of around 675 grams of CO2 per GW of green hydrogen capacity are at the
kWh of hydrogen power. planning stage, and with large-scale invest-
ment and regulatory incentives, the pipeline
• Blue hydrogen is produced in the same way, of new projects could rapidly expand. By 2040,
but with the addition of carbon capture and about 10 percent of the world’s primary energy
storage (CCS) to prevent the CO2 from being demand (the equivalent of 1.4 billion tonnes
released. It is seen as a potential bridging tech- of oil) could be replaced with H2, the majority
nology for a transitional period until the cost of of which could be produced from renewable
synthesizing hydrogen from renewables goes sources like wind and solar power.
down.

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2. Turning water
into fuel: H2 from
electrolysis
Electrolysis, or the process of splitting water The basic principle of this technology is that
(H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen using direct two electrodes, connected to a power source,
current, was discovered in 1800 by the English are placed in the electrolyte – in this case,
scientists William Nicholson and Anthony water – which facilitates the charge exchange.
Carlisle, who went on to lay the groundwork for Hydrogen will begin to form in bubbles at the
the new discipline of electrochemistry. Until the cathode, and oxygen will evolve at the anode,
arrival of steam reforming from coal and gas, at a rate of production that is proportional to
electrolysis from water was the standard the electric charge. This chemical reaction will
method for producing hydrogen, prompting yield 1 kg of hydrogen, with an energy content
French author Jules Verne to write in his 1874 (HHV) of 39.4 kWh, per 9 liters of water
novel The Mysterious Island: “Water will be the (stoichiometric), based on a power input of 52
coal of the future.” More than two centuries kWh – an efficiency rate that compares
later, that time may finally have come, as the favorably to other industrial processes.
need to store excess renewable power and
convert it into a chemical energy source has
kicked off a renaissance of H2 electrolysis.

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Alkaline and PEM electrolysis

Currently, two main commercially viable generates high-quality product gas, even at
production technologies are available (with a partial load. These electrolyzers require
third, based on solid oxide electrolyzer cells, comparatively little maintenance, and the
having yet to be fully commercialized). output is free of chemicals or impurities.

Alkaline electrolysis has been in use since the Growing numbers of PEM electrolyzers have
1920s and is a well-established process for been installed over the past decade to make
making synthetic hydrogen to be used in hydrogen from water, and in the past five years,
fertilizer and chlorine production. It involves a about 80 percent of new H2 electrolyzer
potassium hydroxide electrolyte solution in capacity has been based on PEM technology.
which a thin porous foil separates the nickel- These projects have an average capacity of 1
based electrodes, making for a durable and MWe, a tenfold increase from the small pilot and
affordable process that yields hydrogen with a demonstration projects installed in 2000-2009,
high degree of purity. In the 20th century, signifying that the technology is rapidly moving
around 165 MWe of large-scale alkaline towards industrial-scale applications. Most
electrolyzer capacity were installed. Most of projects are located in Europe, with a few more
these assets were located in Canada, Egypt, underway or planned in Australia, China, and the
India, Norway, and Zimbabwe, all of which had Americas.
significant hydropower plants that made
operations economical. However, they were Several of the projects now under development
mostly decommissioned in the 1970s when will have a capacity of 10-20 MWe and more,
steam reforming of natural gas and methane and assets on a scale of 100 MWe or larger are
offered a more competitive process for under construction. Globally, the most
synthesis of hydrogen. powerful single units have operational
capacities ranging from up to 6 MWe (PEM
Proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, Siemens Energy, Austria) to 10
electrolyzers operate with a membrane that is MWe (alkaline electrolyzer, Asahi, Japan).
permeable to protons, but not gaseous
hydrogen or oxygen, and serves as a separator In its 2020 annual report, Siemens Energy
to prevent the product gases from mixing. A made a commitment to enhance the
PEM electrolyzer uses pure water as the electrolyzer product line through R&D and
electrolyte solution and thus avoids the need to to explore portfolio elements to tap into
recover and recycle the electrolyte, as is growth fields such as decarbonized energy
required with alkaline electrolyzers. Their small systems, energy storage and Power-to-X
footprint makes PEM electrolyzers suitable for technologies. In January 2021, Siemens
urban spaces, and with the ability to ramp up Energy and Siemens Gamesa announced
and down within minutes or even seconds – that they were joining forces to research
faster than alkaline electrolyzers – they are innovative solutions that fully integrate an
electrolyzer into an offshore wind turbine
ideally suited for flexible operation in
as a single synchronized system to directly
conjunction with wind or solar power, and can
produce green hydrogen. The companies
provide frequency reserve and grid stability. intend to provide a full-scale offshore
PEM technology offers highly efficient and demonstration of the solution by 2025/2026.
reliable performance at high power density and
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More use cases for

affordable H2
As the cost of electrolyzers goes down, the 400. More than 20,000 forklifts, which are
range of new use cases for synthetic hydrogen especially suited to run on hydrogen, were in
has increased. For instance, in Africa and India, operation in warehouses. In Japan alone,
it could power off-grid communities in remote 275,000 fuel cell co-generation systems
areas and replace the imported fossil energy running on natural gas had been installed. Fuel
carriers that are used as a backup solution for cell costs had gone down by about two thirds
critical infrastructure including hospitals or compared to 2015, and by 90 percent compared
telecom towers. In other parts of the world, to 2005. Fuel cell durability had reached 10,000
green H2 could help achieve plans for a hours, with some stationary fuel cells reported
complete transition of the electricity supply to to be racking up 80,000 hours of runtime.
low-carbon sources. South Australia hopes to Experts believe that if current market trends
do so by 2025, Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture persist and policymakers continue to support
and Sweden by 2040, California by 2045, and the technology, hydrogen from renewable
Denmark by 2050. sources may not only be economical in niche
applications, but could be able to compete with
A June 2019 snapshot by the IEA revealed that industrial-scale electricity supply by the end of
more than 11,000 hydrogen-powered road this decade.
vehicles had been sold, and the number of
hydrogen refueling stations had increased from
80 to 381 within just three years. In the
meantime, that number has increased to over
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Silyzer – the Siemens Energy

electrolyzer product line
The Siemens Energy electrolysis solution for with low CAPEX and low production costs, thanks
making green hydrogen is based on the PEM to high availability and efficiency. This PEM
concept, since it offers high efficiency at high electrolyzer is free of hazardous chemicals and
power density to yield high-quality gas even at delivers pure hydrogen. With an efficiency rate of
partial load, with low maintenance around 75 percent and an output of between 100
requirements and good reliability, and without and 2,000 kg per hour (335 kg/h per full module
chemical byproducts or impurities. array), it has a wide range of applications. It can
support grid operations within 10 seconds, its fast
The Silyzer family was launched in 2011 with ramp-up time making it a valuable asset for
the Silyzer 100 (100 kW capacity). The Silyzer adding grid stability. The Silyzer 300 is flexible and
200, introduced in 2015, has a power rating of dynamic, and is offered together with a reliable
1.25 MW. The Silyzer portfolio scales up by a service package that can be tailored to individual
factor of ten every four to five years, driven by needs.
market demand and co-developed with
Siemens Energy’s customers. The next step is
the shift to industrial scale with the Silyzer 300.
It has a production capacity in the double-digit
megawatt range. It helps operators achieve
scaling effects through a modular design that
allows for large-scale industrial electrolysis

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Safety and environmental

impact

Notably, while hydrogen is combustible, it only generated by the connected renewable energy
burns when combined with a certain sources can be used to desalinate seawater
percentage of oxidizing agent, such as chlorine, through reverse osmosis, which requires just
pure oxygen, or O2, as well as an ignition 3-4 kWh per cubic meter of water, at a price of
source. Storage, handling, and transportation about US$0.70-2.50 per cubic meter of water.
of hydrogen on an industrial basis have been This adds just one or two cents per kilogram of
studied and well understood for over a century; hydrogen to the overall production costs. While
even in case of a leak, due to its natural the direct use of seawater causes corrosive
buoyancy, the gas dissipates immediately into damage and leads to chlorine production,
the atmosphere. It is not toxic, and does not research is underway on how to facilitate the
emit noxious pollution, GHG, or even use of brine in electrolyzers – though this is
unpleasant odors when used with a fuel cell. probably still quite far off in the future.

One key factor is the amount of water required

for electrolysis. Especially in arid parts of the
world, this must be taken into account both in
cost calculations and in assessing sustainable
resource management. However, depending
on the location, some of the electricity

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3. A new energy
course for the UAE
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has embarked on
a pioneering path towards a more sustainable
Clean energy strategy
energy system. The decision to chart a new course In Dubai, DEWA and Siemens Energy are cooperating
was prompted by several globally prevalent to generate green hydrogen from solar energy using
dynamics, including a steady increase of energy the Silyzer 200 electrolyzer, based on PEM
consumption together with high population technology. The facility will test and demonstrate an
growth. In 2017, the UAE government launched integrated megawatt-scale plant to produce
‘Energy Strategy 2050’, which aims to increase the hydrogen using solar PV, store the gas, and then
contribution of clean energy in the total energy deploy it for re-electrification or other potential uses.
mix from 25 percent to 50 percent by 2050.

Energy consumption in the states of the Gulf

Cooperation Council has doubled since 2000 and
almost quadrupled since 1990, according to
IRENA. Fortunately, the UAE has a nearly unlimited
supply of one key resource – sunshine. The
average level of solar irradiation that can be
captured by photovoltaic technology here is 2,150
kWh/m2 per year. The Emirates currently sources
about 2 percent of its electricity from renewables.
The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA),
a utility serving more than 1,000,000 customers in
the Emirates’ most populous city, aims to
drastically raise that share. In the past 16 years, During the 6th World Government Summit in 2018, a
the utility’s installed power generation capacity memorandum of understanding was signed between
from gas turbines, steam turbines, and solar PV HE Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for
has grown from 3,833 MW (2004) to 11,400 MW International Cooperation and Director General,
(2019). In order to place the UAE’s energy system Expo 2020 Dubai; HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer,
and economy on a more sustainable footing, Managing Director and CEO of DEWA, and then-
DEWA is accelerating the use of renewables. Siemens President and CEO Joe Kaeser to kick off the

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Green Hydrogen pilot project for the region’s first potentially for transportation or other industrial
solar hydrogen electrolysis plant at DEWA’s uses at a later stage.
outdoor testing facilities at the Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. During the six months of Expo, which now runs
from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, the facility –
In the spirit of Expo 2020 Dubai’s main theme the first of its kind in the region – will test and
“Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” and its demonstrate how green hydrogen can be produced
key subtheme of Sustainability, DEWA, Expo 2020 on an industrial scale, stored, and deployed for a
and Siemens Energy are working together to number of applications, including re-electrification
promote sustainability and innovation in a and industrial use.
strategic collaboration between government and
the private sector. The Green Hydrogen project will be further
developed in different phases beyond the
The purpose of this joint effort between Expo re-electrification scheme as new options for
2020 – the first World Expo to be hosted in the producing, storing, distributing, and deploying H2
Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) re- are implemented across diverse sectors including
gion – and its Official Sustainable Energy Partner power, mobility, and industry.
DEWA, and Siemens Energy, is to test and show-
case an integrated megawatt-scale plant to pro-
duce hydrogen using photovoltaic power at the
Solar Park, store the gas, and then utilize it ini-
tially for re-electrification purposes, and

“This project is proof that solar-driven green hydrogen can be produced

in the Middle East at scale, and I believe in just a few years, we will look
back at this facility as a breakthrough moment for a more prominent role
for hydrogen in the energy transition. Green hydrogen is the fuel of the
future, and DEWA, Expo 2020 Dubai, and Siemens Energy have all recog-
nized this potential. Siemens Energy’s proton exchange membrane elec-
trolysis technology is emerging as the preferred method to produce H2
from sustainable sources. By using renewable power to produce hydrogen
and other synthetic fuels derived from the element, green hydrogen is
poised to vastly decarbonize energy in all sectors of consumption.”
Dietmar Siersdorfer, Managing Director,

Siemens Energy Middle East and UAE

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The Mohammed bin Rashid

Al Maktoum Solar Park
The Solar Park is the world’s largest single-site solar
park based on the independent power producer The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
model. With a planned production capacity of Solar Park
5,000 megawatts by 2030, it will help transform
Dubai into a global hub for clean energy and green
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park
business by providing 75 percent of Dubai’s total
will be completed in five stages to form the world’s
power capacity by 2050. Currently, DEWA has a largest single-site solar park in the world based on the
renewable power capacity of more than 1 GW. Independent Power Producer (IPP) model. It will
feature a parabolic basin complex and a solar tower,
70,000 heliostats, and 15 hours’ worth of thermal
It is part of the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, which storage capacity.
will involve investments of AED600 bn (US$163 bn)
to meet the growing energy demand and ensure
sustainable economic growth. It seeks to increase • Site area: 127 km2
• Production capacity (planned): 5,000 MW by 2030
the efficiency of energy use by individuals and • Water desalination: 50m3/day
organizations by 40 percent, and achieve savings of (around 11,000 gallons) using reverse osmosis
AED700 bn (US$190 bn) by 2050. The Energy Strat- • Total investment: AED50 bn (US$13.6 bn)
• Carbon emissions savings: 6.5 mn tonnes p.a.
egy 2050 is designed to increase the share of clean
energy in the total energy mix to 50 percent by 2050
and to reduce the carbon footprint of power gener- The Solar Park with its significant production capacity
ation by 70 percent. is the first of its kind in the region, and the first of
many projects to boost reliance on renewables to
generate electricity in Dubai.

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Test bed for green H2

The Green Hydrogen project is harnessing some and the University of Sharjah to develop joint
of that PV electricity for the first mega-watt- research in renewable and alternative energy.
scale solar-powered electrolysis facility in the
Middle East. The project covers an area of The R&D center highlights four major opera-
10,000 square meters at the Outdoor Testing tional areas: electricity generation from solar
Facility (OTF) of the DEWA research and devel- and clean energy, integration of smart grids,
opment center, which is part of the Solar Park. energy efficiency, and water. Its internal labs
study and test system reliability, and it carries
The plant is designed to meet the highest out external field testing of new technologies
safety standards, in line with DEWA guide- and equipment, including the performance and
lines as well as international and European reliability of solar PV panels and removing dust.
codes. The project highlights Siemens It is the only center in the UAE that focuses on
Energy’s commitment to the UAE.
renewable energy, smart grid technologies,
and energy efficiency. It includes the UAE’s
DEWA’s R&D center at the Mohammed bin largest testing facilities for PV. The center also
Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park is an ideal conducts tests for PV panels in desert climate
example of public-private partnerships. It conditions.
collaborates with several academic institutions,
such as Stanford University, UAE University,
Khalifa University of Science and Technology,

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4. Sector coupling:
Power-to-X
As noted above, the energetic coupling of discrete
sectors through conversion of renewable energy
into H2 offers a way to accelerate the energy
transition that will be necessary to avert
catastrophic climate change. The conversion of
electricity from green sources into H2, which can
then be reconverted into power, used as fuel, or
used as an industrial feedstock for e-fuels such as
e-kerosene, e-diesel, or e-methane, is one way of
establishing such a link between different sectors
including the energy system, industry and
manufacturing, buildings, or transportation and
mobility, to name only a few.

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Energy
Despite hydrogen’s potential in the large-scale In addition, more than 200 TWh could be gener-
integration of renewables, only a small ated from hydrogen in power plants to accom-
percentage of current H2 production is used in pany the transition to a renewable electricity
the energy sector. Raising the share of system.
electricity generated from distributed energy
sources with stochastic feed-in, such as solar Where suitable infrastructure is already available,
and wind, will reduce reliance on conventional hydrogen is also a cost-effective option for decar-
utilities and centralized fossil power plants by bonization of heat and power in buildings.
facilitating the distribution of energy across Furthermore, due to the high flexibility of elec-
sectors and regions. Ultimately, renewable trolysis, green hydrogen production can
energy must also be available when sunlight contribute to the stability of the entire energy
and wind are scarce. This requires storing sector by providing grid services such as
energy, including over extended periods of frequency control, buffering to increase system
time. resilience, and clean, dispatchable power gener-
ation in peaker plants. “Island solutions” can be
Hydrogen can serve both purposes, as an implemented using a hydrogen infrastructure.
energy source and as a storage medium. It has The highly dynamic behavior of a PEM electrol-
the advantage of being compatible with ysis system is ideally suitable for direct connec-
existing infrastructures such as gas grids, which tion to renewable power sources. Load peaks can
offer tremendous storage potential. By 2030, thus be intercepted in the island grid, and the
250 to 300 TWh of surplus renewable electricity energy can be fed back into gas turbines or fuel
could be stored in the form of hydrogen for use cells as needed.
in other segments.

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Industry

Today, about 90 percent of global hydrogen industries (refining, fertilizers, chemicals)

production is used for industrial purposes as an could increase from 8 EJ in 2015 to more than
essential fuel, additive, or reduction agent. 80 EJ in 2050. This trend will be spurred by
Hydrogen is primarily used as a basic chemical stricter regulations on desulfurization in oil
in the synthesis of ammonia and other refineries and the use of H2 for synthesis of
fertilizers such as urea, and for the synthesis of ammonia and conversion of methane and
methanol, various polymers, and resins. Other water to methanol, both of which are expected
major consumers in today’s hydrogen industry to be in higher demand in the fertilizer and
include refineries and the metalworking chemical industries in pursuit of the two-degree
industry, as well as the semiconductor, glass, scenario. Process heat, especially in energy-
and food and beverage industries. intensive industries, can also be provided by
hydrogen without the need for major
By covering this demand with renewable adaptations of current manufacturing
power-to-gas options rather than grey hydrogen processes.
from fossil sources, a significant source of
emissions can be eliminated. As the price of
solar and wind power declines, together with
electrolyzer costs, this may soon become a
cost-cutting factor as well. The use of hydrogen
as a feedstock in conventional processes and

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Mobility
The electrification of mobility is one of the signed between Siemens Energy, Masdar, one of
greatest challenges in global decarbonization. the world’s leading renewable energy companies,
Hydrogen can help to decarbonize this sector in the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, Etihad
two ways. Fuel cell vehicles can use hydrogen Airways, German Lufthansa, Marubeni Corporation
directly. Instead of fumes including CO2 and and Khalifa University to establish a photovoltaic
NOx, they produce only water. Together with powered electrolyzer facility in Abu Dhabi, to
battery-powered vehicles, they reduce demonstrate state-of-the-art green hydrogen
emissions not only from local urban traffic, but production technology and present sustainable
also from interurban traffic and light and heavy- fuel use cases.
duty transport, because these vehicles have a
significantly higher range than that of The first phase of the demonstration program will
exclusively battery-powered vehicles, and focus on the production of green hydrogen for
refueling takes only a few minutes. passenger cars and buses in the Masdar City area.
In parallel, a kerosene synthesis plant will be built
The second way hydrogen can help is through the to convert the majority of the green hydrogen into
synthesis of e-fuels from sustainable hydrogen sustainable aviation fuel. In the second phase of
and carbon from agriculture and forestry or direct the program, the production of decarbonized fuels
air capturing. In this way, even sectors with high for the maritime sector will be explored. Through
fuel requirements, such as the aeronautics and the program, the organizations involved can help
shipping industries, can be decarbonized. The to significantly reduce the UAE’s carbon footprint,
current range of electric vehicles using fuel cells, create domestic demand for sustainable fuels, and
including buses, medium-sized cars, and forklifts, establish a local knowledge and industry base for
will be complemented in the near future as
additional medium-sized and large vehicle
models, buses, trucks, vans, and trains become
available, with even more to follow until 2030.

A strategic partnership in
Abu Dhabi “Non-fossil fuel based liquid hydrocar-
bons are the next logical step towards
A Memorandum of Understanding was recently
achieving significant decarbonization in
aviation, and this partnership is an ex-
tension of Etihad’s efforts to look into
“Power-to-Liquid fuels are essential alternatives suitable for the UAE, where
for the energy transition in aviation we have already explored halophyte-
and a key technology for climate- based biofuel and are now expanding
friendly flying. Green hydrogen is a that into research and development of
key ingredient to produce renewable synthetic fuel from green hydrogen.”
jet fuel.”
Tony Douglas,
Group CEO, Etihad Aviation Group
Annette Mann,
Head of Corporate Responsibility, Lufthansa Group

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 Green Hydrogen | Whitepaper

Conclusion
The transition to an energy system based on exploiting the full potential of green hydrogen at
hydrogen will not take place instantaneously, nor all levels.
should it be considered a solution for all of the
challenges associated with building a sustainable
global economy. Rather, it will be an integral part
Grounds for optimism
of a comprehensive effort, closely linked to Nevertheless, after several waves of enthusiasm for
technological advances in the fields of renewable green hydrogen in the 1970s, 1980s, and 2000s that
energy, electrolyzers, fuel cells, storage capacity, fizzled out again, there are a number of reasons to
and multiple other components. Its spread will be be optimistic that hydrogen will finally have its
faster in those countries that already have a moment. The first is the plummeting price of
usable gas infrastructure and where opportunities emissions-free electricity from wind or solar energy.
for sector coupling facilitate a rapid penetration This has moved the price of generating green
of hydrogen technology throughout the economy. hydrogen to within striking distance of grey
hydrogen, whose carbon footprint is no better than
Although hydrogen is not a new technology, its that of conventional fuels.Secondly, the imperative
time has come. If deployment continues to be of mitigating climate change serves as a catalyst
accelerated by bvold policies, regulation, and and underscores the urgency of expanding the use
visionary planning that takes a “whole systems” of renewables, which can be stored and transported
approach, the use of green hydrogen can be in the form of green hydrogen and used for sector
rapidly scaled up to levels where it can make a coupling.And finally, hydrogen can be used to
decisive contribution to achieving the two-degree decarbonize sectors such as power production,
goal proclaimed by governments and industry, and transportation, which account for the
international bodies. lion’s share of global emissions and are less
amenable to renewable energy integration.
Already today, momentum is building in a number
of countries, and public-private partnerships such In order to harness the full potential of green
as the Green Hydrogen project in Dubai hydrogen, it will be necessary to find the most
demonstrate how cooperation between forward- effective projects today and close the cost gap with
looking partners can lay the groundwork for a grey hydrogen as the application is scaled up. Just
fundamental transformation of the energy as important, however, is the need for close
system. On the global scale, however, greater collaboration between various stakeholders. Power
efforts are required by all stakeholders to build on producers, for instance, will have to exchange
these pioneering initiatives and work towards know-how and coordinate with mobility service

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 Green Hydrogen | Whitepaper

providers, and all market players will have to be projects that will improve the technology, identify
clear about their own role and those of their and overcome regulatory hurdles, and develop
companies in what promises to be a highly safety concepts that could make hydrogen as
disruptive industry. Finally, bringing about a important for Middle Eastern countries as oil has
breakthrough for the hydrogen economy will been in the past.
also necessarily involve more support from
municipal and governmental decisionmakers, As more governments, municipalities, and the
since they have the authority to change regula- industry become involved, manufacturers will
tory frameworks and drive decarbonization have an order pipeline that justifies further
targets. investments in technology and production
processes, which will trigger scale effects and
As one of the technology leaders in the field, ultimately bring down costs. This dynamic,
Siemens Energy is very confident that green which was effective in bringing about the break-
hydrogen is on track to supply a significant through of solar power, can also foster green
share of global energy supply in the coming hydrogen and make this sustainable energy
decades, provided these conditions are met. Our carrier a success story.
collaboration in Dubai is a model of how private
and public entities can work together to make
green hydrogen a success, including through

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