• Appeal to German policymakers: Gas grid infrastructure, natural gas, CCS and hydrogen will all be essential for a successful energy transition
• Hydrogen from natural gas will remain indispensable for the decarbonisation of industry

The European gas industry is working hard to rapidly develop hydrogen solutions. “To produce hydrogen in a climate-friendly way, we must make use of all technologies – be it steam reforming, electrolysis or pyrolysis. In other words, hydrogen from renewable energies and from natural gas,” said Margarethe Kleczar, Vice President Carbon Management and Hydrogen at Wintershall Dea on 2 June at the BDEW Congress in Berlin. “We will need this technological diversity to make the energy transition a success and to maintain energy security,” Kleczar added. According to the coalition agreement of Germany’s federal government, Germany alone will need up to 110 TWh of hydrogen in 2030 – an amount that will not be possible to achieve solely from renewable sources. For this reason, gas producers, municipal utilities, grid operators and heating manufacturers are all confronting the transition to a higher use of H₂ in equal measure.

DECARBONISING OF INDUSTRY WITH HYDROGEN AND CCS

Decarbonising of industry will make a significant contribution to reaching the climate targets of Germany and the European Union. In industries such as those for steel, cement or chemicals, there are production steps in which the use of fossil fuels is still required. Some of these processes, which account for a major share of total greenhouse gas emissions in Germany, will not be able to be completely electrified in the future – or only by using very large amounts of resources.

Hydrogen as an energy carrier and the underground storage of CO₂ will represent important building blocks for the decarbonisation of industry and thereby for achieving these climate targets. “The gas industry has the ideas, the know-how and the will to change and evolve. Without a future-proof gas grid infrastructure, natural gas, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and hydrogen, the energy transition and a more secure energy supply will not be possible. At Wintershall Dea, we want to do our part and continue to advance the transformation of the gas industry using CCS and hydrogen,” says Hugo Dijkgraaf, Chief Technology Officer at Wintershall Dea.

WINTERSHALL DEA ACTIVE IN VARIOUS PROJECTS

• At the EnergyHub in Wilhelmshaven, Wintershall Dea plans to produce hydrogen from Norwegian natural gas and green wind power. More information on BlueHyNow.
• In Denmark, Wintershall Dea is involved in a project to safely store CO₂ under the Danish North Sea. More information on Greensand.
• Wintershall Dea is involved in various projects related to producing hydrogen via pyrolysis, which generates hydrogen and solid carbon from natural gas and renewable electricity. The technology is very energy-efficient, and the facilities can be used in a decentralised and modular way. More information.