Hydro­gen Stra­tegy: Hydro­gen for Fle­xi­bi­lity and Sec­tor Cou­pling

Sec­tor cou­pling is a cen­tral deve­lo­p­ment on the path to the energy sys­tem of the future. This insight is now reflec­ted in the update of the Natio­nal Hydro­gen Stra­tegy (NWS). It focu­ses on all sec­tors: elec­tri­city, mobi­lity, and heat.

In the paper published last week, there is men­tion of “sys­tem-fri­endly elec­tro­ly­sis.” This is inten­ded to serve as an “important fle­xi­bi­lity option for the energy tran­si­tion.” It is also expec­ted to reduce the need for expan­ding the elec­tri­city grid. This will be achie­ved through “smart inte­gra­tion of elec­tro­ly­sis with the elec­tri­city sys­tem and the trans­port and sto­rage infra­struc­ture for hydro­gen.”

Com­pen­sa­tion for sys­tem-ser­vice bene­fits – how can elec­tro­ly­sis be eco­no­mic­ally via­ble?

While these for­mu­la­ti­ons leave many ques­ti­ons open, it is nevert­hel­ess posi­tive that hydro­gen pro­duc­tion is con­side­red sys­te­mi­cally, as is alre­ady the case in the Net­work Deve­lo­p­ment Plan (NEP) of the trans­mis­sion sys­tem ope­ra­tors. The plan­ned ten­ders are inten­ded to pro­vide more cla­rity on what the eco­no­mic ope­ra­tion of elec­tro­ly­zers will look like. This point should also be carefully dis­cus­sed in other areas such as e‑mobility. It is cru­cial to create a regu­la­tory frame­work that enables eco­no­mic­ally inde­pen­dent ope­ra­tion.

Waste Heat in Focus

Low energy effi­ci­ency has always been a point of cri­ti­cism in hydro­gen pro­duc­tion. Howe­ver, energy does­n’t sim­ply dis­ap­pear: during elec­tro­ly­sis, large amounts of waste heat are gene­ra­ted, which have not been uti­li­zed until now – this is where the focus on the heat tran­si­tion (Wär­me­wende) comes into play. The Heat Plan­ning Act (WPG), which is curr­ently under con­side­ra­tion, places a strong empha­sis on the use of waste heat. By con­nec­ting to dis­trict or long-distance hea­ting net­works, sec­tor-cou­pled elec­tro­ly­sis can offer fle­xi­bi­lity in various direc­tions, making the over­all effi­ci­ency attrac­tive. The Natio­nal Hydro­gen Stra­tegy (NWS) makes a clear refe­rence to the WPG, lay­ing the foun­da­tion for an effi­ci­ent sec­to­ral con­nec­tion.

The sys­te­mic approach of the NWS posi­ti­ons hydro­gen as a link bet­ween sec­tors in a strong posi­tion. Its poten­tial to pro­duce heat during elec­tro­ly­sis takes cen­ter stage. This offers num­e­rous oppor­tu­ni­ties to inte­grate hydro­gen as a fle­xi­ble com­po­nent of the future energy mix and create new value chains. The con­ti­nua­tion of the hydro­gen stra­tegy is thus an exci­ting basis that can initiate posi­tive deve­lo­p­ments. It remains to be seen how this will be imple­men­ted in prac­tice.