Green hydrogen has emerged as a credible solution to decarbonise power-hungry industries like aviation, steel and chemicals. However, there remain several obstacles on the path to commercially viable production at scale. Some of these factors are prevalent across the hydrogen rainbow (such as the challenges of safe transportation and storage) while others are unique to green hydrogen.

Creating cost-competitiveness

The nascency of current production and the need for investments in technology and infrastructure hinder the competitiveness of green hydrogen. The high cost of electrolysers and renewable energy are also significant factors. Despite recent advances, these costs remain higher compared to other sources of hydrogen. The price of green hydrogen may eventually drop as low as USD 1/kg – but the technology and economies of scale are not there yet.

Finetuning the technology

The underlying technology for green hydrogen is yet to mature fully. Further research is needed to improve the efficiency of electrolysis, develop cost-effective catalysts, optimise fuel cell efficiency, mitigate energy loss in production and distribution and more. Since hydrogen is a low-density gas with a large flammable range, it will also require advances in durable materials and new protocols for safe transportation and storage.

Building the infrastructure

Green hydrogen requires dedicated infrastructure for production, storage, transportation and distribution. This includes liquefaction plants, pipelines, storage tanks, compressors, and dispensers. The intermittence and geographical vagaries of renewable energy also necessitate large-scale energy storage and management systems. Building these new facilities and networks (or repurposing old ones) will require significant capital investment.

Securing renewable energy

Green hydrogen's viability hinges on access to abundant, affordable and reliable renewable energy, which accounts for nearly 80% of its production cost. However, the cost of solar and wind power remains high in some parts of the world. Many countries simply do not produce enough renewable energy yet. The variability of solar and wind power also affects electrolyser utilisation, driving costs higher. Alternatives like gray hydrogen may thus appear cheaper or more reliable in the near term.

Achieving true sustainability

The great promise of green hydrogen lies in its sustainability. However, electrolysis requires large amounts of purified water. This adds to the cost and complexity of the process and could especially pose a problem in areas of water scarcity. To transport green hydrogen at scale, hydrogen carriers such as Green Ammonia, added as downstream units require ammonia synthesis and cracking, reconverting to H2, for injection at the last mile.. This is an energy-intensive process which is susceptible to energy losses, further affecting the life cycle efficiency  from production to end use of green hydrogen.

Addressing these challenges will require a concerted effort from regulators, industry and researchers. It calls for a supportive policy regime, with clear incentives for innovation in sustainable production, storage and distribution. Overcoming these challenges will unlock the full potential of green hydrogen and accelerate the transition to a clean energy future.

Sources:

• Trivedi, Vibha and Gharib, Moaz 2023. "Analyzing The Roadblocks of Green Hydrogen Energy Deployment: DEMATEL-Based Approach", ICGEST
• Freire Ordonez, D et al 2023. "Quantifying global costs of reliable green hydrogen". Energy Advances
• Dixit, Arun C et al 2024. "Barriers for adoption of green hydrogen in Indian transportation sector: A fuzzy ISM approach". ICSTCE
• Jayachandran, M. et al 2024. "Challenges and Opportunities in Green Hydrogen Adoption for Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Industries: A Comprehensive Review". IEEE Access
• Freire Ordonez, D et al 2023. "Quantifying global costs of reliable green hydrogen". Energy Advances