Lightsource bp to accomplice with Dourogás on inexperienced hydrogen tasks

Photo voltaic enterprise Lightsource bp is to accomplice with Portugal’s Dourogas on quite a lot of tasks centered round inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing.

In a press release Thursday, Lightsource bp — which oil and fuel big BP has a 50% stake in — mentioned the partnership would see the 2 corporations “discover the potential of eight inexperienced hydrogen websites.”

The thought behind the collaboration is that photo voltaic services from Lightsource bp will probably be used to energy electrolyzers Dourogas has developed.

Inexperienced hydrogen produced by the partnership is to be “injected immediately” into the Portuguese fuel grid, Lightsource bp mentioned.

The collaboration’s first challenge has benefited from a 5 million euro grant ($5.65 million) from the European Union’s Portugal 2020 fund.

Hydrogen, which has a various vary of purposes, may be produced in quite a lot of methods.

One technique contains utilizing electrolysis, with an electrical present splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen. If the electrical energy used on this course of comes from a renewable supply, akin to wind or photo voltaic, then some name it “inexperienced” or “renewable” hydrogen.

“We have at all times believed in photo voltaic as an important software in decarbonisation,” Miguel Lobo, who’s nation head for Lightsource bp in Portugal, mentioned in a press release.

“When used to generate inexperienced hydrogen, it turns into a complete vitality transition toolkit.”

“The clear vitality locked into these hydrogen molecules can instantly lower the footprint of industries, heavy transport and warmth in methods electrical energy alone can’t,” he added.

The notion of integrating hydrogen with present infrastructure is beginning to acquire some traction.

Again in July, Marco Alvera, the CEO of Italian agency Snam, outlined a imaginative and prescient for the way forward for hydrogen, saying the “magnificence” of it was that it may very well be simply saved and transported.

Chatting with CNBC, he spoke about how present methods can be used to facilitate the supply of hydrogen produced utilizing renewable sources in addition to biofuels.

“Proper now, when you flip in your heater in Italy the fuel is flowing from Russia, all the way in which from Siberia, in pipelines,” he mentioned.

“Tomorrow, we may have hydrogen produced in North Africa, within the North Sea, with photo voltaic and wind sources,” Alverà mentioned. “And that hydrogen can journey by means of the present pipeline.”

Whereas there’s pleasure in some quarters in regards to the potential of inexperienced hydrogen, the overwhelming majority of hydrogen era is at present primarily based on fossil fuels.

In current instances, some enterprise leaders have spoken of the problems they really feel are dealing with the rising sector.

In October, for instance, the CEO of Siemens Vitality informed CNBC there was “no business case for inexperienced hydrogen” at this second in time.