Germany has secured several hydrogen cooperation contracts with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during vice-chancellor Robert Habeck’s visit to Abu Dhabi and can expect the first blue hydrogen shipments in the course of the year.
The contracts also envision cooperation between German and Emirati companies and research cooperation involving German research institute Fraunhofer and the UAE’s energy ministry which the vice-chancellor welcomed.
Berlin aims to import staggering 3 million tons of “clean” hydrogen it aims to use by 2030 with Habeck explaining that the hydrogen supply chains’ accelerated expansion is a pivotal factor in the transition to sustainable energy.
Habeck also pointed out that the new cooperation makes a twofold contribution by strengthening at the same time the achievement of the climate goals and Germany’s energy security.
It remains a subject of debate whether blue hydrogen and ammonia help any of these two objectives because blue hydrogen is made from fossil gas that requires an energy-hungry transformation phase to convert it into hydrogen.
It’s still unclear if the hydrogen that will be shipped to Germany from the UAE will be blue or green though it appears that the contracts signed in Abu Dhabi are all related to blue hydrogen, at least in their initial phase.
Although it relies on fossil gas as the primary feedstock, blue hydrogen is believed to possess climate merits since it is made from natural gas using renewable electricity, with carbon capture and storage (CCS) to bury the emissions underground.
However, these climate merits have been repeatedly questioned due to leakages of methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas, in the upstream gas supply chain.
The green hydrogen, on the other hand, is made from water electrolysis.
The companies involved in shipping the blue hydrogen to Germany will use so-called liquid organic hydrogen carrier technology, an oil-like substance that captures hydrogen and makes it transportable.
Once the UAE has enough electrolyzers in place, green hydrogen should be shipped to Germany using this technique.
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