How hydrogen will change our lives. Next stop: Portugal, 2030

#TouchingHydrogenFuture 2023 – tour across the globe in 'Jules Verne style'

Short series of stories on global Hydrogen future, written by a group of Hydrogen passionados, making concepts accessible to wider audience, allowing both entertainment and education including readers from all continents for whom affordable and clean energy is key.

In 2022, we as a group of Hydrogen passionado’s launched the “Touching Hydrogen Future” book?– it is now downloaded in over 120 countries, over 7500 times and counting; presented in global Hydrogen audience via EnergyPost webinars, and World Hydrogen Leaders congress in Rotterdam 2022 – available at www.europeangasmarket.eu and enabling accessible global hydrogen education at universities and debate at businesses, governments. In autumn this year (2023) World Hydrogen Leaders congress in Rotterdam plans to distribute 2nd edition in print.

This year we continue to build-out stories – here is the story on Portugal from Maria Eduarda Piauhylino, CEO of EURO FPV – welcome Maria Eduarda to “Touching Hydrogen Future” writers’ community.

Imagining the future is delivering it.

Authors:?Maria Eduarda Piauhylino.?Editors:?Erik Rakhou and Rosa Puentes Fernández

The thriving Portuguese Green Hydrogen Market

This is a story on how the Portuguese Hydrogen market may feel and be in 2030, with an overview of the impact on the local economy and hydrogen related stakeholders.

Lisbon, 30 of May of 2030.

It's finally almost summer time, and here I am leaving Lisbon to enjoy some days at the beach. I′ve just crossed the bridge over the Tagus river and the first toll, leaving behind all the city traffic. I am making my way via A2 highway South towards the Algarve, so I can enjoy the first summery days that Portugal has to offer.

It feels amazing to be driving my fuel cell car down to the South for the first time! Life has changed so much since 2023, and I′m so happy to see how far we′ve come. We are living in an era of green solutions, and reducing our carbon emissions to the minimum. We are finally retiring many of those older electric cars and their batteries, which have been accumulating as piles of used (rare) metal; I hope that more firms will offer a solution for this soon (1).?

Prospecting Sines surroundings for Hydrogen future.

Heading towards Algarve, I take the route A2 South which will pass though Setubal and Alentejo region. After about 45 minutes of driving, I arrive to the exit number 9, which I quickly decide to take and make a stop around Sines to fill up my car with locally produced green hydrogen (H2), and have a look around.

After exiting A2 highway, I reach IP8, one of so-called principal routes. While making my way through historic Alcácer do Sal , I start seeing large scale solar plants and wind farms on the horizon. Sometimes I even lose sight of the end of these massive solar plants. As I drive further, I contemplate the beautiful and typical Alentejo landscape , and reflect how the Portuguese government has done an excellent job in managing to preserve the environment, and promote a renewable energy market at the same time. I love it that it's possible to have a world where we live in harmony with the environment.

Today, this region around Sines is considered to be the largest renewable and Green hydrogen hub in Portugal, and one of the largest in Europe, producing and exporting green H2 and its by-products to other European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands.

It′s impressive how the Portuguese National hydrogen strategy (2) helped to transform Sines and the surrounding cities in the past few years. It amazes me how the little villages that had only few farmers, fishermen and elderly people, have transformed into a vibrant and pulsing with life urban district alongside beautiful nature scenery, full of scenic buildings, shopping centers, schools and universities, and a key global hub for green solutions that is internationally recognized.

The H2 projects brought to this region a young and specialized workforce, and now Sines and its surroundings are one of the wealthiest regions in Portugal. It attracts not only the Portuguese workforce but people from all over the world that want to relocate to the region due to excellent work opportunities and quality of live. It’s amazing to drive around Sines town and see how many school, universities and institutions are testing new solutions and preparing the next generations to take over the Portuguese renewable and green H2 market in a couple of years.

Driving further into Sines and its green industrial future.

While I drive around Sines I see the first gas station that sells green H2. The price sign says 2,35 euros per kilo. This gas station is near to ZILS (Sines Industrial Zone) and I just need to have a closer look in what’s happening there. My curiosity "strikes", and I decide to explore a little bit more before my lunch stop.

ZILS is packed with all types of green H2 related projects, small and mid-size projects ranging from mobility, blending to large scale production of green hydrogen & its by-products, such as green methane, green ammonia, sustainable aviation fuel e-kerosene, and green steel.

It’s fantastic how Portugal became a leading energy-intensive heavy industry country in the wake of availability and importance of green energy. Portugal now materially contributes to the decarbonisation of the national and European economy.

Very soon the green H2 produced here in Sines will be transported through a dedicated pipeline that will connect the South of Europe to the North, starting in Portugal and passing though Spain, France and Germany, as part of the emerging European H2 backbone (3). This pipeline is now under construction and it's planned to be ready in 2 more years.

Continuing the drive, on my left side I see the H2 mobility center, which includes onsite H2 plant, where the electrolyzers are installed and the green H2 is being produced and stored on site. Here some busses for public transportation and municipality vehicles are waiting to be filled up with green H2.

As I drive on, I start recognizing through neon-signs of corporate brands a large amount of medium and large scale sites of green hydrogen producers at both sides of the long road. It's impressive to see how the green H2 market was capable to sustain different types of players, from startups to large conglomerates. These green H2 production plants on both sides of the road are feeding the produced green H2 into the new dedicated pipeline ring that passes by the H2 plants, and connects the producers directly to the main consumers in Sines. That ring will in few years connect to the European Green h2 backbone as soon as it is ready.

In addition, through the ring, some of the smaller and midsize projects are already feeding a domestic Portuguese natural gas pipeline system where the green H2 is being blended to natural gas at 15-20% rate, and consumed locally in the Seixal and Setubal region (4).

I will never get used to the feeling of arriving to this specific place in ZILS, where unused land turned into a thriving ground that feeds the green h2 economy. Getting closer to the port area of Sines, I can see from faraway the huge project that transforms the local H2 in other products such as green methane and green ammonia (5). The involved factories have an easy access to the harbor and railway, where they can easily transport, and, where relevant, export their final products. I′ve heard that in a couple of months the first large scale vessel, with compressed green h2 will make its first trip, taking the Portuguese Green Hydrogen to Germany, everyone is excited to see how this will go.

I start making my way back towards the city center and pass by an area where the major international electrolyzer manufacturers have their own plants, and are now assembling different types and sizes of electrolyzers. These companies are all doing very well business-wise, and Portugal has become a major hub to produce and export the electrolyzers from, due to the big local market, government incentives and geographically ideal port location for exports.

Reflecting on what green H2 future brought to Portugal

Continuing on my way, I find some other fueling stations where the prices range from 2,35 to 2,50 EUR per kilo of hydrogen. I end up choosing a fueling station with a restaurant close by, where I quickly fill up my car with hydrogen, and have lunch. Here I overthink everything I have seen, before heading South to enjoy the beautiful sunny coastline of Portugal I love, which now in 2030s is ready to be:

• a global lead market for supply and export of green Hydrogen;
• an example of sustainable and decarbonised economy for others to follow; and
• a lighthouse of prosperous future with high quality of life including its great beaches.

[...onto the next stop on our journey, whilst enjoying a glass of Alentejo wine ...]?

Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed are purely those of the authors and in no case can they be considered as an official position of the organizations.

The information presented here is based on available public information from announced projects. In any case it can not be considered a guarantee of what may or may not happen in the future. The author(s) reserve(s) the right to include additional fictional projects or features for the solely purpose of this story.

This is just a chapter of the complete book that we will be released as a free update to “Touching Hydrogen Future” (2nd edition), to be downloaded in late 2023 from?www.europeangasmarket.eu ?.

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Notes, links to articles with research.

(1) Example of a company that manages to recycle 95% of electric car batteries, Redwood Materials - Empresa consegue reciclar 95% das baterias de carros elétricos (canalve.com.br)

(2) National hydrogen strategy - https://www.portugalenergia.pt/setor-energetico/bloco-4/

(3) Germany joins green hydrogen pipeline partnership with France, Spain and Portugal - https://www.euronews.com/2023/01/23/germany-joins-green-hydrogen-pipeline-partnership-with-france-spain-and-portugal

(4) Green hydrogen has been arriving at family stoves in Seixal since 2022. What has changed? - https://www.jornaldenegocios.pt/empresas/energia/detalhe/hidrogenio-verde-ja-chega-aos-fogoes-de-familias-no-seixal-desde-outubro-o-que-mudou

(5) Investment of one billion euros will produce green hydrogen and ammonia in Portugal. The MadoquaPower2X project represents about one billion euros to install 500 MW of green hydrogen production capacity and respective green ammonia production facilities - https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc23/comunicacao/noticia?i=investimento-de-mil-milhoes-de-euros-vai-produzir-hidrogenio-e-amonia-verdes-em-portugal

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