The metallurgical sector is committed to Green Hydrogen as a source of energy and a business opportu

AEMES-Smart, AEBALL/UPMBALL and CEAM organized on March 23 the eWorkshop Green Hydrogen, Interest as a source of energy and business opportunities to address adaptation to the European Green Pact of the European Union and how companies can be part of this transformation towards sustainability. More than 30 companies participated in the day.

In the Green Hydrogen value chain there are business opportunities, products and necessary services that are not yet available or are not available under the right market conditions. Furthermore, Green Hydrogen may be the best option as a source of energy for some industries. The session dealt with both aspects in a practical and concise way, so that companies can consider being participants in the supply network of both supply and demand.

From the hand of the organizing entities and the speakers, the trends in the development of Green Hydrogen and its value chain have been analyzed, as well as the current applications of this energy vector, the opportunities of industrial demand and the probable evolution. The functioning of the demand market for parts and equipment (at a Spanish level and in the international environment) has also been explained, and good practices and recommendations have been presented.

The experts who participated in the session were Héctor Santcovsky (Director of Social and Economic Development in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area), Carlos Navas (Innovation and New Energies H2 at ENAGAS) and Joan Ramon Morante (Director of IREC. President of the European Materials Research Society, EMRS), in a round table moderated by Neus Olea (Director of AEMES.Smart and Head of the Technical Department of AEBALL/UPMBALL) and Natàlia Ortega (General Secretary of CEAM).

According to Santcovsky, representative of AMB, an entity with an important driving role in this transformation, "the metal sector will have a strategic and determining role in the next three or four years in terms of Green Hydrogen". This is because, according to Navas, "hydrogen is a key element that allows decarbonisation (even of sectors not susceptible to electrification), energy storage, the creation of an industrial fabric and the application of its use in various sectors (industrial, mobility, residential…)".

For his part, Morante explained in his speech, in some detail, the value chain of Green Hydrogen, from the point of view of technological challenges, which range from the moment of water treatment, the manufacture of electrolytics, the process of compression, to the purification of hydrogen, the retrofitting of vehicles, the adaptation of tanks and pipes, among many others.

The organizing entities are available to companies that plan to undertake projects related to Green Hydrogen to support them, put them in contact with possible collaborators, financing, etc.