DoE plans hydrogen-offshore wind integration in PEP

By Myrna M. Velasco – March 6, 2023, 5:05 PM
from Manila Bulletin

The Department of Energy (DOE) is seriously weighing the possibility of marrying offshore wind with hydrogen in the coupling of technology innovation that shall be cast in the updated Philippine Energy Plan (PEP), the blueprint of the country’s energy future that will be released this year.

During a forum on “Fuel for the Future: Development of Hydrogen Technologies in the Power Sector” convened by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham), DOE Director Patrick T. Aquino indicated that “on the government side, what it is signaling is hydrogen would be preferred in renewable energy – we will tie it hopefully with offshore wind.”

He added “the reason why the government started discussions on accelerating the next upcoming PEP is that: we’ve seen in the DOE the part of pronouncement of President (Ferdinand) Marcos Jr. on hiking offshore wind.”

Aquino stated even if only a fraction of the 178-gigawatt offshore wind potential of the country will be harnessed on commercially-viable scale, “the Philippines will be in a very energy-secure situation and what we are seeing globally also is that: there’s pressure in terms of generating hydrogen using renewable energy.”

In the policymaking terrain, however, the DOE official opined that the key elements they have been exhaustively scrutinizing are those on cost implications, the requirement in terms of transportation (including the standards needed); as well as safety across the value chain, among others – and one model of regulation the department has been considering is the template already pursued in the Downstream Natural Gas Industry.

“We would want to do it in a safe manner, and hopefully; when the government makes that signal, investors will follow – because they know what the rules are,” he noted.

Aquino further conveyed that the focus of internal discussions at the DOE is on the potential cost impact of utilizing hydrogen – whether for brownfield ventures like the retrofit of gas-fired power plants or repurposing other energy installations like refineries; or for greenfield projects, including its technology matching to renewable energy as storage system.

He specified that the pervasive “school of thought right now in upper management in policymaking is that: everything is dictated by cost.”

The energy official further emphasized that the potential of hydrogen is being carefully examined because this may eventually emerge as a driver for the government to firm up policy on the retirement of aging fossil fuel plants.

According to Takakazu Morimoto, associate director for Frontier Business Division of Japanese firm Chiyoda Corporation, hydrogen can already be transported safely across markets in the world; and it could also be scaled viably depending on the applications needed by energy markets.

Global engineering firm Chiyoda is already offering to various energy markets its SPERA Hydrogen system, which is a solution into storing and transporting hydrogen through the use of liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) method.

Further, the company can also do engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract on hydrogenation and dehydrogenation for users of this innovative hydrogen technology that is seen holding sway in the world’e energy future.

As explained, Chiyoda’s liquid methylcyclohexane (MCH) is produced from toluene and hydrogen – and it can be safely and economically stored and transported to target destination-markets.

Nevertheless, Morimoto admitted that hydrogen is still regarded to be costly; and bulk of the cost primarily accounts for hydrogen as a key element in this technology solution.

“Roughly speaking, one-third is hydrogen cost; one-third is the capex (capital expenditure); one-third is energy to convert, that’s the general ratio,” he stressed.

The Chiyoda executive expounded “the cost calculation for hydrogen is really depending on the situation…major part of the hydrogen cost is hydrogen itself — like how much you can produce hydrogen from renewables or from fossil fuels; the others would be capex, then on transportation and also extraction of hydrogen.”