Digital innovation is key in the new green hydrogen market. Here is the point of view of Konrad Uebel, CEO of FI Freiberg Institut GmbH and Edgar, a cutting-edge platform utilized by hydrogen refueling station manufacturers to simulate, dimension, and optimize HRS configurations.
Green hydrogen holds a pivotal position in transforming the energy sector towards a future of zero-emission energy supply. Its importance lies in being a reliable, transportable, and affordable energy source with the capability of long-term storage. Moreover, green hydrogen plays a crucial role in industries' decarbonization efforts, heavy-duty mobility applications, and serves as a major component in the future circular economy with zero-emission hydrocarbon cycles.
To fully realize the potential of hydrogen, there are several challenges that demand our attention. First, it is crucial to decrease the system costs (LCOH) by scaling up series production and expanding the installation of cheap renewable energy sources. Second, we need to develop a robust market for green hydrogen trade and usage, including its application in hydrogen refueling stations (HRS) for various mobility solutions. Lastly, evaluating data from pilot plants and simultaneously upscaling projects to MW scale, with the support of public funding in the early market phase, holds immense importance for driving growth in the hydrogen sector.
The hydrogen market is poised for substantial growth, driven by national hydrogen strategies and corresponding legislative boundaries, such as the Clean Vehicle Directive and EU infrastructure regulations. Additionally, the emergence of promising technologies will fuel rising demand for green hydrogen across various sectors, including chemical industry, industry, mobility, and housing. Currently, we witness small, localized hydrogen clusters with decentralized supply and consumption, which will eventually be connected through hydrogen pipelines, creating a global market for supply and distribution networks utilizing ships, pipelines, or rail.
Digital and intelligent tools are imperative in the hydrogen world due to the increasing complexity of future energy systems. The integration of fluctuating renewables and the need for short- and long-term energy storage demand sophisticated planning and operation. Dynamic simulations are essential for accurately modeling and evaluating these complex systems. The application of computational intelligence and powerful computing ensures timely and optimized solutions, leading to faster decision making and implementation as well as resource and cost savings.
Indeed, our product, Edgar, plays a pivotal role in the hydrogen world. Edgar is a cutting-edge platform utilized by hydrogen refueling station (HRS) manufacturers to simulate, dimension, and optimize HRS configurations. Leveraging algorithms, Edgar conducts rapid technical and economic calculations, resulting in the best configuration within a short timeframe. By utilizing predicted consumptions and cost data from our data manager, Edgar provides optimized planning, crucial KPIs, such as hydrogen demand andrefueling times, and a complete TOTEX analysis for customer projects. Additionally, we are excited to introduce Edgar HyPro at the end of September 2023, an upcoming application that will further enhance planning for entire hydrogen process chains.
