We invite you to read the report from the conference Business & Science PolandNet-ZERO by 2050: Hydrogen market development overview in Central and Eastern Europe

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The Brussels branch of the Employers' Union Business & Science Poland organized an international conference in Brussels on one of the key EU areas — hydrogen policy. The conference focused on the development and future of the hydrogen market in Central and Eastern Europe. The debate was attended by representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Clean Hydrogen Partnership P, the European hydrogen organisation Hydrogen Europe and companies from the CEE region.

The challenge facing Europe to achieve the objectives of the Green Deal is a very ambitious and costly task. To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, the European Union has identified hydrogen as one of the key energy carriers that can play an important role in decarbonising many sectors, especially those where electrification and reducing emissions are difficult, as highlighted by Tudor Constantinescu, Chief Advisor to the Director-General for Energy at the European Commission. He added that hydrogen is also playing an increasingly important role in the security of supply and the modernisation of economies.

In turn, Ryszard Pawlik — parliamentary adviser to Prof. Jerzy Buzek in the European Parliament and an expert in the field of, among other things, EU energy policy, stated that “hydrogen has always been seen as the energy carrier of the future, but we should do everything to make hydrogen the energy carrier of the present, even if this present means the next 10 or 15 years”. Referring to the conference venue (BSP), he also pointed to the correlation of science and business as an important factor in the development of innovative hydrogen projects. Ryszard Pawlik also reported on the gas and hydrogen package adopted last week, which creates a legal framework to provide predictability and incentives for investment to increase the production of clean hydrogen, but also its use and allow free cross-border movement.

“Hydrogen has always been seen as the energy carrier of the future, but we should do everything to make hydrogen the energy carrier of the present, even if this present means the next 10 or 15 years” - Ryszard Pawlik - Parliamentary Advisor to Prof. Jerzy Buzek in the European Parliament

As part of the RepowerEU strategy, the European Commission has clearly defined its target of producing 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen in domestic production by 2030 and 10 million tonnes of imported renewable hydrogen by 2030.

“The massive investments required to scale up the EU hydrogen market require appropriate financing models and systems. Energy-intensive industries, like other sectors of the economy, are aware of the huge financial challenges they face,” said Katarzyna Lachowicz, Director of the BSP Brussels Branch. For European industry, production costs are one of the main obstacles to the development of the pure hydrogen market. The production, transport and use of 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen is estimated to amount to more than 471 billion euros. An additional €300 billion will be needed to generate electricity from renewable sources.

“We realize that 2030 is not that far away. In addition, in the coming days we will learn about the European Commission's proposals for emission reduction targets for 2040, which will entail new challenges for European companies. Industries therefore need huge investments and clear financing mechanisms that will make full use of the available financial tools,” added Katarzyna Lachowicz, Member of the Board. She stressed how important the process of shaping the hydrogen market was based on technological neutrality for all renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production, not favouring one solution at the expense of another.

Participants in the debate agreed that ensuring a level playing field for European producers on global markets requires ensuring not only a stable regulatory environment, but also the availability and affordability of low-carbon and renewable electricity, which is currently a major challenge in achieving the objectives imposed on the industry, e.g. with regard to the targets set by the RED Directive for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNs) BO).

Industries need huge investments and clear financing mechanisms that will make full use of available financial tools” — added Katarzyna Lachowicz, Director of BSP's Brussels Branch

The advanced hydrogen projects presented during the conference were the advanced hydrogen projects of the ORLEN S.A. Group, as well as innovative hydrogen valley ecosystems supported by the Industrial Development Agency S.A. Director Grzegorz Jóźwiak, MBA from the Office of Hydrogen Technologies and Synthetic Fuels Orlen S.A. presented the Company's 2030 hydrogen strategy announced in February 2022, which strongly resonates consider issues of hydrogen and its derivatives, as investments in the future. According to the Orlen Group's 2030 strategy announced in 2023, the company plans to achieve 1 GW of installed capacity in its low- and zero-emission hydrogen production facilities, and its ambition is to produce about 130 kt of renewable hydrogen per year and more than 70 kt/year of synthetic fuels by the end of this decade. Achieving these objectives will be possible through the use of various technologies for the production of low- and zero-emission hydrogen, including electrolysis powered by renewable energy sources, municipal waste treatment, production of hydrogen from biomethane, as well as further conversion of hydrogen and CO2 into synthetic fuels. Director Grzegorz Jóźwiak stressed that “The goals are very ambitious, but we believe that our projects are at such a level of progress that their implementation is not threatened”.

“The goals are very ambitious, but we believe that our projects are at such a level of advancement that their implementation is not threatened” - Director Grzegorz Jozwiak, MBA from the Office of Hydrogen Technologies and Synthetic Fuels Orlen S.A.

The ORLEN Group boasts a rich portfolio of hydrogen projects. One of the flagship initiatives is the “Hydrogen Eagle” project — a comprehensive infrastructure project implemented in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It involves the construction of low- and zero-emission hydrogen generating capacity to decarbonise industry through an international network of hydrogen production facilities and the construction of a network of publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations along key road corridors to ensure the smooth transport of hydrogen powered vehicles along the North-South and East-West axes.

The Group is intensively developing the construction of a network of hydrogen refueling stations - as part of the support from the EU programs CEF Transport Blending Facility and CEF Transport Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility for the implementation of the first and second phases of the project “Clean cities - hydrogen mobility in Poland”, as well as subsidies under the Polish Program “Support of infrastructure for charging electric vehicles and infrastructure for hydrogen refueling”, stations in Poznań, Katowice will be put into operation Wałbrzych, Bielsko-Biała, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Kraków, Warsaw and Pile. These will be publicly accessible, 24-hour facilities, adapted for use by all hydrogen-powered vehicles — both in 700 bar pressure standard for passenger cars and 350 bar for buses and heavy transport. In 2023, the company opened two publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations for cars, trucks and buses in the Czech Republic, and in a few weeks one of the largest publicly accessible hydrogen refueling stations in Europe will be launched — in Poznań, another in Katowice.

A representative of Orlen presented its first pilot hydrogen refueling station in Krakow, launched in 2022. Hydrogen from the ORLEN Group's biorefinery in Trzebina powers the cells of zero-emission buses tested in Krakow's public transport. He paid particular attention to the development of the hydrogen-powered rail market. ORLEN purchased and commissioned a prototype hydrogen locomotive with refuelling infrastructure. The first passage of the locomotive took place on the Gdynia-Hel route, which due to its specificity is difficult to electrify and could use hydrogen solutions on a commercial scale in the future.

The Orlen Group's portfolio of hydrogen activities also includes hydrogen quality testing laboratories located in Trzebina and Włocławek, as well as in the Czech Republic. These are essential elements of the business, the purpose of which is to provide final customers and fuel users with the required quality standards.

The company is also involved in the development of hydrogen valleys, which are small ecosystems conducive to the development of the hydrogen-based economy. ORLEN is the leader of the Mazovian Hydrogen Valley and, together with a dozen panthers, established the Amber Hydrogen Valley, whose goal is to build a complete hydrogen chain in the Pomeranian Voivodeship — from production, storage and distribution to various end uses, such as mobility and industry. In particular, the project will concern the hydrogenation of the port of Gdynia, which will make it an example for other ports in the region of the introduction of hydrogen technologies in this area. Amber Hydrogen Valley is the only hydrogen valley in Poland with the European Mission Innovation certificate.

For the ORLEN Group — as Grzegorz Jozwiak said — education is a very important issue. In June this year, the first edition of the Hydrogen Academy was successfully completed, and on September 18, the call for the second edition of this initiative, which is extremely important for personnel recruitment, began.

ORLEN sees great potential in the development of the hydrogen economy and, thanks to the implemented projects, can become a market leader in the region and a major producer of hydrogen in Central Europe. However, this will not be possible without large investments. Business participation, supported by appropriate regulations and financial support, is essential to achieve the EU's climate and energy independence objectives. The Director drew attention to the need to maintain consistency between the EU RED II legislation and the EU taxonomy regarding the level of reduction of GHG emissions from low-carbon hydrogen production and RFNBOs.

EU objectives related to energy transition, fossil fuel independence, new regulations on alternative fuels and the share of renewable hydrogen in transport and industry, national strategies as well as the increasing number of investments clearly show that hydrogen will play an important role in the future energy and fuel structure of the EU and Poland.

Szymon Płoński, Project Manager at Agencja Rozwacja Przemysł S.A. pointed out that hydrogen valleys are today crucial for launching investment processes in hydrogen technologies in Europe and Poland. Thanks to the cooperation of many stakeholders, hydrogen valleys allow to mitigate investment risks associated with the implementation of technologically complex projects and to create and secure off-take hydrogen as a key element in deciding on investment financing. An example is the Baltic Hydrogen Valley project, which received funding from the European Commission in the amount of EUR 25 million, but this is a project that is expected to generate EUR 2 billion of investment in hydrogen technologies.

ARP S.A. adopted a similar logic when engaging in hydrogen valley projects in Poland, so that the zloty invested in hydrogen valleys allowed to launch specific investment projects in hydrogen technologies, creating an investment multiplier. This logic of development has been chosen today in Poland by the Lower Silesian Hydrogen Valley, which initiates projects to generate concrete investments in hydrogen technologies in Poland. A good example is Promet-Plast, the Oławski Energy Cluster, which since 2019 has been implementing the project of a 5-megawatt electrolyzer, which produces up to 700 tons of green hydrogen per year and uses wind and photovoltaic energy. This project was created to compete with Chinese plastic production using cheap energy from wind farms. If you want to compete with the Chinese, you need cheap energy production,” he added.

Dr Matthijs Soede, Director of the Clean Hydrogen Mission (DG Research & Innovation) of the European Commission, added that the hydrogen valley is not just a project, it is a programme and a vision that needs support from all stakeholders in different regions. This means not only a program divided into different projects, but also one that can be carried out on different dates, which makes it a complex undertaking as a whole. In the aspect of synergy between business and science, “we need continuous investment in research and innovation, clear and maximum funding and the impact achieved through collaboration”.

“We need continued investment in research and innovation, clear and maximum funding and the impact achieved through collaboration” - Dr. Matthijs Soede, Director of the Clean Hydrogen Mission

Ivica Jakic, President of H2-Hydrogen Cell Croatia spoke about the hydrogen projects implemented for maritime and road transport. He stressed that e-methanol is the future for countries such as Croatia, where it refuels many deep-sea vessels. “The production of e-methanol solves two of the biggest problems in Europe: CO2 emissions and hydrogen. Total decarbonization is done by buoy with a single design”.

“There are many challenges related to infrastructure needs, hydrogen storage, grid availability of the national renewable energy needed to produce clean hydrogen, but hydrogen is a great opportunity for development. This could be the next step for Europe in terms of growth, development and job creation. And Central Europe has great potential to participate in this dynamic process,” commented Kamila Waciega, Director of Energy Policy and Infrastructure at Hydrogen Europe.

The meeting organized by the Brussels branch of BSP was attended by several dozen people from EU institutions, the business world and international organizations.

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