A presentation of the book " The Hydrogen Carrier: State of the Art and Potential for Italian Industry," produced by RSE - Research on the Energy System e ANIE Federation.
"The collaboration between ANIE Energia and RSE has become a structural element of our association activities. Westarted a few years ago on the topic of electrochemical storage ," said Federica Guidi, President of ANIE Energia, "and we arrive today to present the first edition of the Hydrogen White Paper. I like to emphasize the pragmatic approach that has always characterized our shared work and that, through the presentation of case studies, better defines the perimeter in which, as of today, the hydrogen carrier can already be considered competitive."
Maurizio Delfanti, CEO of RSE, added, "The analysis proposed in this volume by RSE and ANIE, the latest in a long-started joint study path, highlights the progressive importance of the hydrogen vector in achieving decarbonization goals. The activities conducted by RSE on hydrogen, starting with System Research, follow an application approach, which arouses the interest of operators, in the trajectory leading to net zero by 2050. It is precisely in this context that the development needs of building infrastructures that will allow our country to be ready for the challenges with which we will have to measure ourselves in the coming years."
The book explores the rationale for the use of hydrogen, the possible supply chains for production, transport and use, the related costs, and the critical issues to be addressed at the financial, legal and regulatory levels, opening a focus on several case studies and exploring the technologies developed, the development scenarios and the areas of intervention needed for the use of this vector. "One aspect in particular that we tried to explore is how much the Italian industrial sector is able to develop in this direction, avoiding the mechanisms of dependence on imported technologies. It is clear that there is an industrial structure that is already quite developed, and that moreover is moving toward dimensional growth and greater productive integration, also favored by the funding mechanisms of the PNRR," commented Luigi Mazzocchi, Director of the Generation Technologies and Materials Department at RSE.
"For ANIE, that of hydrogen is an issue to be studied in depth from a technical, regulatory and economic point of view. The paper presented today clearly highlights which areas are already ready to accommodate hydrogen produced from renewable sources, such as hard-to-abate sectors or some applications in the transportation sector; and which, on the other hand, remain the more prospective areas where economics and clear rules are still lacking and where the technology still needs to mature, such as sector coupling or the use of existing gas distribution infrastructures to transport hydrogen," explained Fabio Zanellini , Head of ANIE Energia's Technical Commission, who spoke together with Stefano Socci, a member of ANIE Energia's Technical Commission.
The meeting was also an opportunity for a lively debate with stakeholders, institutions, industry experts, the industrial world and its associations. The following spoke, moderated by Luigi Mazzocchi: Claudio Marcantonini of ARERA, Xavier Rousseau of SNAM, Ruggero Bimbatti of Italgas, Cristina Maggi of H2IT, Agostino Re Rebaudengo of Elettricità Futura, Maurizio Stucchi of ANIE, Flavio Bregant of Federacciai and Renato Migliora of Federchimica. A useful in-depth moment to compare the vision of the main stakeholders on the hydrogen issue, examining its development possibilities for the Italian industry.
Mauro Mallone, Director General for Energy Incentives at the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, was then given the concluding part of the event, with a specific focus on the Italian and European strategy. "The Ministry gives particular importance to the development of the hydrogen vector and promotes its production and use, in light of the ambitious decarbonization goals," Mallone said, "but also to counter the problems related to energy supplies. The insights conveyed by RSE and ANIE are particularly useful not only to investors, but also and especially to policy makers. We move with due caution, however, trying to accelerate the development of technologies and accompanying the choices that operators make."
According to the strategy defined by the Ministry, the PNRR alone allocates 3.6 billion euros to the development of the hydrogen supply chain. Among the news announced during the event by the MASE representative were the results of the response of Regions and Autonomous Provinces to the hydrogen valleys call, which allocates 450 million euros: the result for the 15 regions, which were the first to complete the call, corresponds to proposals of a value well above the available budget; a sign of great ferment and interest in the topic.
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