Norway’s Statkraft is eyeing up the accelerated use of hydrogen in green steel production and as a good alternative for vessels and heavy vehicles as the country unveiled a new national strategy aimed at promoting the greater use of the low-carbon fuel.
The state-owned utility has signed an agreement with steelmaker Celsa and real estate firm Mo Industrial Park to develop green hydrogen for industrial use in high-temperature metal processes in northern Norway.
The agreement sets out the shared objective of building an electrolysis facility, to be called the Hydrogen Hub Mo, which will use renewable power to produce green hydrogen which could replace the fossil fuels currently used in Celsa’s production process.
“The end product will be green steel, in the form of one of the world’s most low carbon reinforcement steels for use in construction works,” said Statkraft.
The initial plan is to study a production unit that can produce some 2-4 tonnes of hydrogen per day.
Statkraft said the electrolysis facility will have the capacity to produce hydrogen for a range of companies and processes located within the industrial park.
The project partners also called for a joint effort to develop projects that can drive the demand for hydrogen in industrial applications and as a fuel in a growing market.
The wider aim of the project is to position the Mo Industrial Park as a centre for expertise and a hub for hydrogen production in Norway.
Statkraft is Europe’s biggest producer of renewable energy, thanks largely to its vast hydropower generation, and in smaller part also to an increasing fleet of wind farms.
High-speed crafts
The utility is also collaborating with power company TronderEnergi and hydrogen fuel chain firm Hyon to launch compressed hydrogen as an alternative fuel for vessels and heavy vehicles. The companies believe pressurised hydrogen, produced from renewables, is a good solution for fuelling many types of vessels, including high-speed crafts.
In several potential locations along the Norwegian coast, it is envisaged that it will be possible to combine hydrogen deliveries to the maritime sector with deliveries to other users in heavy transport.
Norway's hydrogen strategy
Launching the country’s new hydrogen strategy this week, petroleum and energy minister Tina Bru said the use of clean hydrogen can contribute to Norway reducing its emissions and reaching its climate targets, while at the same time creating new green jobs.
Bru said Norway has several advantages in clean hydrogen production that it must build on.
“We have a power system based almost entirely on flexible hydro-power, and in normal years we produce more than we consume. Furthermore we have the potential to produce more power from other renewable sources, such as onshore wind, or, in the longer perspective offshore wind.
“We are also the third largest exporter in the world of natural gas. In order to produce clean hydrogen from natural gas, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a prerequisite. And Norway is in the forefront of CCS technologies.”
The minister said for green hydrogen the cost of electrolysers must come down, while energy efficiency in production must rise.
The government recently provided NKr120m ($12.7m) for the Norwegian Research Council’s so-called Energix research programme to promote hydrogen-based and other technologies. It has also increased funding to climate agency Enova to NKr2bn to support green technologies within hydrogen, offshore wind, green shipping and batteries.
“International cooperation is key to developing a global hydrogen market,” said Bru. “We need partners, projects and pilots within this international framework to succeed. The strategy we have put forward underlines this international cooperation.
“In Norway we have key competence and experience from the renewables, petroleum, industrial and maritime sectors, forming a solid foundation for taking hydrogen to the next level. I see the story of hydrogen in our new strategy to be a future fuel in the zero-emissions world we strive to achieve.”
Steve Marshall in Oslo at our sister publication Upstream contributed to this article
