Russian gas company Gazprom plans to grow its hydrogen production and use and is considering several areas for utilising hydrogen as an energy source.
At the moment, Gazprom produces over 350,000 tonness of hydrogen by various technologies at its facilities, which is then used to derive different products from it.
Hydrogen energy is viewed as essential for the implementation of low-carbon development strategies. However, hydrogen is a secondary energy source, and additional energy is required to produce it, which makes it costly. Most of the current foreign projects are funded by state subsidies and reliefs, and there is no common global market of energy hydrogen today.
Gazprom stresses the importance of accumulating its own technological competencies in the field of hydrogen energy through the use of the properties of natural gas, i.e. eco-friendliness and cost-efficiency.
The company’s plans include the development of innovative technologies for the utilisation of methane-hydrogen fuel in Gazprom’s production activities, as well as the development of innovative technologies for the production of hydrogen from methane with zero СО2 emissions along with hydrogen transportation methods, inter alia, for the purpose of export.
The large-scale implementation of such technologies is to create additional demand for natural gas as a feedstock for hydrogen production.
The management committee was asked to provide for the activities aimed at pursuing priorities in natural gas-based hydrogen energy development.
The board also took note of the results of import substitution efforts made in 2020 and the operational and financial effect achieved, as well as approved the report on Gazprom’s import substitution plan implementation progress.
Last year, Gazprom proposed to expand Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, a major processing plant on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, to convert imported methane into hydrogen.