Port of Antwerp joins forces with Chile to introduce hydrogen: good idea in theory, but in practice?
COP26 is also about business; in the margins of political discussions, the port of Antwerp has signed a deal with the Latin American country of Chile for the hydrogen trade. The gas is seen as the energy of the future, but it is not yet clear if it will be transported from the other side of the world.
The port of Antwerp is widely regarded as one of the most important ports in Europe. It also wants to become a gateway to Europe for the resource that many point to as the energy of the future: hydrogen.
Jacques Vandermeiren said CEO of the Port of Antwerp CEO of the Port of Antwerp He spoke these words in a video shown at an event that the port targeted for COP26, knows Euroactiv.
Green hydrogen?
Hydrogen is produced by electrolysis, ie water, which is added, is separated by two electric poles. One hydrogen gas, the other oxygen. The machine that is needed, the electrolyser, needs electricity to operate. Hydrogen is then green when the electricity produced for production comes from a renewable energy source.
The more polluting version is gray hydrogen: methane is separated, using heat, releasing hydrogen. But this method also releases enormous amounts of carbon, seven to eight times more than the hydrogen produced. However, the carbon can be captured during production, and this is known as blue hydrogen.
Potential
The deal between the port of Antwerp and Chile comes to an agreement. Critics believed that, despite the abundant sunshine praised by Minister Van der Straeten, Namibia did not even have enough energy to power the entire population. What is Chile’s capacity to generate electricity from receiving energy sources?
Again, we are talking more about “potential”. The South American country has 4,200 kilometers of coastline and deserts in the north. Turning on the potential of light in offshore wind energy and photovoltaics. “Green hydrogen is the best way to exploit it and share it with the world,” said Juan Carlos Jobet, Chilean energy minister, at the event organized by the port. Euroactiv.
But at the moment renewable energy is not yet exploited on a large scale in Chile. According to the Energy Commission, only 25.7% of electricity is produced using renewable energy.
The biggest problem of hydrogen
From Chile, on the Pacific side of Latin America, to Belgium is a huge distance. 25-30 days, to be exact. But the problem with hydrogen is that experts don’t yet know how best to transport the gas. For now it can be transported in cylinders, but the pressure is high: between 350 and 700 bar, or through gas pipelines, but it is lighter and does not move as well as natural gas. the door Euroactiv quoted experts wonder “hydrogen can be transported from one continent to another and yet remain in another in terms of cost”.
The hydrogen is produced to reduce, isn’t it transportation to carry that hydrogen across the ocean that pollutes a lot? Especially because hydrogen itself can already have a negative effect.
Gniewomir Flis, hydrogen expert at the think tank Agora Energiewende, tells Euroactiv that hydrogen is “more difficult to store and transport than liquefied natural gas” and that “most countries can produce enough cheap hydrogen locally”.
Local production
In October, a plant for the production of green hydrogen was announced in the Netherlands, not far from the Belgian border. A first for the Benelux. Connected to an off-shore wind farm, it will produce in a clean way, with no carbon emissions.
With a gas pipeline, it can be easily connected to the many purchases in the area (especially the chemical industry; hydrogen can also be used to make ammonia and fertilizers), without having to spend tons of CO2 on maritime transport and without relying on third countries arise.
(NS)