How is Italy doing in hydrogen. Intesa Sanpaolo report
What the Intesa Sanpaolo and H2IT study says on the state of the Italian hydrogen industry. Here are numbers, forecasts and critical issues
The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) allocates 3.64 billion euros for the development of an Italian hydrogen industry, a fuel that does not emit greenhouse gases when burned and which can be produced from electricity obtained from renewable plants : due to its characteristics, it could allow the decarbonisation of all those energy-intensive sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as the steel and chemical industries. The national hydrogen supply chain is actually growing, as Intesa Sanpaolo notes in a dedicated study , but this growth is mainly due to private investments.
Among the Italian companies that deal with hydrogen there are both large and structured ones, such as Snam, De Nora , Danieli and Maire Tecnimont, and small but innovative ones such as H2Energy or StoreH.
More specifically, 65 percent of companies in the sector closed 2022 with growth in investments in hydrogen. 70 percent of these investments were financed with own funds, while 22 percent were supported by European and/or national funds.
HOW ITALY DOES IN HYDROGEN PATENTS
It is not uncommon for investments to translate into patents: Italy is the fifth country in the European Union for the number of patents related to hydrogen, according to the International Energy Agency. Intesa Sanpaolo adds that in the last five years, more than one company has obtained at least one patent related to hydrogen or is about to register it.
PNRR AND IPCEI
51 percent of the companies covered by the study by Intesa Sanpaolo and H2IT (the Italian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association) participated in the tenders of the PNRR. On the other hand, 33 per cent are involved in the IPCEI initiatives: this is the name of the "Important projects of common European interest", i.e. relevant for the entire Union.
THE ENERGY CRISIS? AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HYDROGEN
58 percent of Italian companies involved in the hydrogen supply chain have increased the turnover of the business dedicated to this fuel, and say they expect growth again this year. For about half (45 percent) of the sample analysed, the current energy price crisis has not been an obstacle to hydrogen activities; for 35 per cent, this context even represents an opportunity and an incentive to invest.
THE MOST PROMISING SECTORS
85 percent of respondents to the study say that mobility (trucks, trains and possibly planes , in the future) is the sector with the highest growth rate linked to hydrogen. This is followed by the heavy and hard-to-abbot industry sector (67 percent) and that of the storage of surplus electricity produced by wind and photovoltaic parks (55 percent).
THE MAIN CRITICALITIES
However, 78 percent of Italian companies in the hydrogen supply chain complain about the lack of a clear regulatory framework. 64 percent believe that the main brake on investment is the uncertainty about demand, which is not yet clear. 53 percent say they are affected by authorization (53 percent) and bureaucratic (51 percent) complexities.
"To overcome the critical issues", concludes the study, "companies are asking above all for the definition of national laws and regulations (58%), national strategic plans (55%) and more investments to stimulate demand (45%) and in infrastructure ( 42%)".
– Read also: Europe is not making progress on hydrogen
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/idrogeno-italia-studio-intesa-sanpaolo/ on Fri, 02 Jun 2023 05:24:09 +0000.