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Hydrogen is crucial to transforming Norwegian industry
Hydrogen is essential for the successful transformation of Norwegian industry and will provide value creation and green jobs across the country. Therefore, arrangements must be made for faster introduction of hydrogen into industry. At the Renewed Norway Annual Conference in Bodø 17-19. In April, industry associations Norsk Hydrogenforum, Celsa Nordic and GreenH will talk about how to contribute to society through new forms of energy.
Hydrogen is a central climate solution that is being heavily invested in, both in Europe and globally. For Norway and Norwegian local communities, this provides significant opportunities for value creation and employment.
Norway has unique comparative advantages that enable us to take a leading position in the field of hydrogen, and we are currently working on large and small projects in hydrogen production and use, research and development, trial and experimentation. Expanding the scope of technology throughout the country.
McKinsey's Norway of Tomorrow report – Ten Opportunity Industries for Norway as of 2022 – estimates an increase in turnover from around NOK 2 billion today to as much as NOK 71 billion in the early 2030s. If the most optimistic scenarios come true, a commitment to hydrogen would increase the number of employees in the industry from about 1,000 today to 33,000.
The shift from fossil fuels to hydrogen in industrial processes is one of the most important climate measures in the coming years. according to Norwegian Environment Agency Could this measure reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 1.5 million tons of CO2 per year. But so far no major investment decisions have been made. Hydrogen is still expensive compared to fossil fuels, and targeted measures are needed to accelerate this transition.
The vision of sustainable steel cannot be achieved without hydrogen
Steel producer Celsa Nordic is one of the companies that wants to lead the way in developing circular hydrogen production chains. Today, the company produces 14 times fewer emissions than conventional ore-based steel production, because it uses 100 percent steel scrap as raw material, recycles it and gives it new life in the form of new rebar for the Nordic construction industry.
Production is divided into two processes. At the steel mill, scrap steel is melted in an EAF furnace powered by renewable hydroelectric energy. The steel then goes to the rolling mill where it is heated in a furnace with fossil energy sources consisting of liquefied natural gas, carbon dioxide and marine oil. If this rotary kiln is to become fossil-free, hydrogen is the only possible solution.
Significant multiplier effects from early investment in hydrogen
GreenH will produce hydrogen from electrolysis and distribute it to industrial end users. The company has five announced projects, and its planned facility in Bodø has been selected as a hydrogen supplier for two ferries that will operate on the Vestfjord connection in 2025.
Cascading impact analyzes show that this single project could create more than 800 job-years nationally, and at least 320 local employment-years in the Bodø and Salten area. The project positions Bodø as a central hydrogen hub in a national and international context, and creates synergies between industries and sectors. For example, Bodø is currently being used as a testing base for hydrogen-based flight concepts
Necessary arrangements must be made to accelerate the process of introducing hydrogen into industry
The challenge facing hydrogen suppliers is that the costs of producing, compressing and distributing hydrogen are very high compared to fossil alternatives. Therefore, at the initial stage, targeted support is needed that can make the first investments profitable, until the price of CO2 becomes high enough.
Enova has established good support programs for the development of marine hydrogen value chains and the use of hydrogen in heavy transport. Enova has also put in place measures to reduce emissions from industry, but there is uncertainty regarding the extent to which it will facilitate investments in hydrogen. In order to further develop the tools towards industry, it is important to make arrangements for a faster phase-in of hydrogen in this highly centralized sector.
Not only will this take us one step closer to our climate goals, but it will also create value and develop new green jobs across the country.
Ingeborg Tilnes WilhelmsenSecretary General of the Norwegian Hydrogen Forum
Susan M. Nevermo SandHead of Sustainability and Strategy at Celsa Nordic
Axel KlafstadHead of Business Development, GreenH
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