ABB joins initiative to help develop the Polish hydrogen economy

ABB has entered into a sectoral agreement aimed at developing the Polish hydrogen market based on new available technologies.

ABB became one of 138 signatories of the “Sectoral Agreement for the Development of the Hydrogen Economy in Poland”. It was joined by representatives of government administration, science, business and various sectors of the economy in which the production, transmission, storage and use of hydrogen will play an important role in the future. The agreement is another step towards the development of this sector after the “Hydrogen Strategy for a Climate-Neutral Europe” was announced by the European Commission in July 2020.

Hydrogen – in its “green” version, obtained as a result of electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources – is commonly regarded as clean energy and the fuel of the future, which can find various applications, including in industry and transport. According to the data of the Ministry of Climate and Environment, Poland is the fifth in the world and the third in the European Union producer of gray hydrogen obtained by methods with environmentally unfavorable CO₂ emissions. The agreement aims to replace this production with green hydrogen, taking advantage of the extensive technical experience of handling gray hydrogen as a medium in production processes.

The Agreement, signed on October 14, is also intended to focus and increase, amongst others the Polish contribution to the procurement chain for the hydrogen economy (to a minimum level of 50% in 2030). So-called Hydrogen Valleys will be developed in a number of regions in Poland, which will integrate entities from various sectors for the development of the value chain of this economy.

– Such a wide range of signatories results from the cross-section of potential needs and competences in hydrogen technology. Therefore, the agreement makes the actual depth of the emerging market real and constitutes a starting platform for specific executive projects – says Jarosław Szumny, sales director for key customers in the Oil & Gas ABB business in Poland. – Our company’s goal is to support processes leading to a zero-emission future. We believe that green hydrogen can help with this, so ABB reports to the Covenant on the side of the implementers. We declare specific product and engineering competences – both for our current customers, such as PGNiG, Gaz System, ORLEN or energy companies, as well as other signatories who are interested in the production or use of green hydrogen.

The ABB Group has been developing a competence center in France for two years and has developed a potential product portfolio for hydrogen production in electrolysers, in particular in the field of power supply systems and optimization of energy consumption in the electrolysis process. – We have experience in building rectifier systems for such applications, we have comprehensive solutions for production management on the side of automation systems, and our digital ABB Ability OPTIMAX platform is functionally adapted to support electrolysers from various power sources. To ensure the comprehensive portfolio of products, we also focus on cooperation with electrolyser manufacturers – adds Jarosław Szumny.

From December 2020, the ABB Group is also a member of the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance (ECH2A), an official body of the European Union. The Alliance is focused on a wide deployment of hydrogen technologies by 2030. This is intended to be a way to reduce carbon emissions and support the EU’s plans to become carbon neutral by 2050.

First Published: October 22, 2021

Source: ABB Press Office