Italy set to catch up with EU countries in hydrogen strategy
(Montel) Italy is reviewing its strategy on hydrogen production, infrastructure and regulatory frameworks and is set to catch up with other European nations that have existing 2030-2050 targets, experts told Montel.
Without a clear hydrogen plan, Italy has been lagging countries like Germany and Spain but could make up the delay with a new strategy that learns from others, they said.
“We are arriving after others, but we have the advantage of learning from other countries experience and avoiding their mistakes,” said an industry source.
A draft of Italy’s hydrogen strategy seen by Montel outlines three scenarios for the period 2030-2050.
In the most ambitious one, Italy’s annual production would total about 2.3m tonnes by 2050, imports would near 1m tonnes and net consumption was pegged at 2.8m tonnes.
These figures could increase by over 20% in the final version of the document, a source close to the dossier told Montel.
Italy’s renewables electrolyser capacity would total 3 GW by 2030 and 19 GW by 2050, according to the draft. By 2050, hydrogen could account for 15-25% of Italy’s final gas consumption.
As part of its hydrogen strategy, the EU aims to install at least 40 GW of renewable hydrogen electrolysers across the continent by 2030 and produce up to 10m tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year and import around the same amount.
Hydrogen bubble?
Despite concerns of a potential “hydrogen bubble”, the market remains robust, the industry source added.
“I don’t think the hydrogen bubble has burst in Europe,” he said, in reference to several European projects being shelved or delayed.
Hydrogen development “will not have a linear path” as it is a market still being built, which will experience ups and downs initially and stabilise once planned infrastructures like the South H2 Corridor are in use, he noted.
Costs
The costs for producing renewable hydrogen in Italy from 2030 to 2050 could range between EUR 6/kg and EUR 20/kg, while a state incentive of EUR 6-8/kg could help businesses make the venture competitive, the industry source added.
In contrast, green hydrogen produced in North Africa could cost less than EUR 5/kg, with transportation costs to Europe via pipeline ranging from EUR 0.2/kg to EUR 1/kg, according to the draft strategy.
Incentives are needed to make hydrogen competitive, along with strong support for infrastructure to open Italy to other hydrogen markets, said Alberto Dossi, president of the hydrogen association H2IT.
Italy must develop the sector “from scratch”, transitioning from spot incentives for many small production sites to a more complex market with dedicated regulation, Federico Boschi, head of the energy department at the ministry, told Montel at an event organised by the H2IT association in Rome.
