Green hydrogen - Europeans cultivate it in South America with Chile the cheapest - Japan is late

Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic Edition reported the following

グリーン水素、欧州勢が南米開拓　チリ最安・日本出遅れ

カーボンゼロ

2021年12月13日 4:00 [有料会員限定]

小山堅さん他3名の投稿

欧州企業が南米やアフリカで再生可能エネルギー由来の「グリーン水素」の製造に動き始めた。太陽光・風力発電の適地が大きく、製造コストが低いからだ。エネルギー輸出国を目指すため外資誘致に力を入れる新興国に協力し、新市場で先行する。日本勢がオーストラリアなどで手掛ける海外事業は小粒で、出遅れ感が否めない。

 

製造コスト、日本より4割安く

フランスの電力大手エンジーは南米チリのグリーン水素プロジェクトに20億ドル（約2270億円）以上の投資を検討していることを明らかにした。2025年までに北部の砂漠地帯で太陽光パネルから水素を製造するプラントを稼働する計画を皮切りに、施設の大型化を目指す。

チリ中部から北部の砂漠地帯は太陽光発電の適地で、南極に近い南部では風力発電が盛んだ。グリーン水素を製造するために必要な再生エネのコストは安い。プライスウォーターハウスクーパース（PwC）と世界エネルギー会議によると、20年時点でチリのグリーン水素製造コストは1キログラム当たり3.5～3.75ユーロ（約450～480円）と世界でも最安レベル。日本より4割以上安い。

チリ政府はこれらの地域でグリーン水素やグリーンアンモニアの製造プラントを建設し、世界中に輸出する計画を進める。エンジーは各地で再生エネの発電所の建設や運営を画策している。

独シーメンス・ポルシェは合成燃料

水から水素を製造する水電解装置で世界大手の独シーメンス・エナジーは9月、ポルシェなどと共同で水素と二酸化炭素（CO2）から作る合成燃料のプラントの建設プロジェクトをチリ南部で始動した。22年にも製造に着手し、26年までに生産能力を5億5000万リットルまで拡大する計画だ。ポルシェのディーラーなどを通じて販売する。

合成燃料は水素とCO2を化学的に合成して製造する。通常のガソリンと同じように利用でき、CO2の排出量を9割減らせる。シーメンス・エナジーは中南米地域のエネルギー問題を議論するオンライン会議を主催するなど、各国の閣僚や有力企業幹部に直接、グリーン水素の製造技術を売り込んでいる。

水素は化石燃料に代わる発電用のエネルギー源のほか、船舶・自動車の燃料、製鉄の低炭素化など幅広い分野で需要が拡大している。国際エネルギー機関（IEA）は50年までに水素の消費量が年間5億2800万トンと、20年の6倍に増えると予測。なかでも再生エネからつくるグリーン水素はカーボンゼロ燃料として注目を集める。

広大な国土を持つ中南米諸国は再生エネのコストが低く開発余地が大きいものの、先進国と比べ産業集積が遅れている。欧州企業はグリーン水素の発展が産業育成や雇用創出につながるとアピールし、国や地方政府と連携。エンジーは10月、ブラジル北東部のセアラ州とグリーン水素の製造を核とした地域振興を推進することで合意した。

アフリカでも存在感

欧州企業はアフリカでも存在感を示す。ノルウェー太陽光発電会社のスカテックは10月、エジプトでグリーン水素製造に乗り出すと発表した。エジプトではシーメンス・エナジーやイタリア炭化水素公社（ENI）もグリーン水素事業に取り組むと表明している。

モロッコやチュニジアでも欧州企業が参入している。アルジェリアなどから既存の天然ガス用のパイプラインを経由して水素を欧州に輸出する計画も持ち上がっている。

脱炭素のエネルギー源として水素を重視する欧州連合（EU）欧州委員会は20年に出したリポートで「EUが優先するのは再生エネ由来の水素だ」と明記した。「地理的に近い北アフリカはコスト競争力のある再生エネ由来の水素をEUに供給する可能性がある」として、官民一体でアフリカでの水素製造を後押しする。

ドイツ政府は20年に水素産業立ち上げのため90億ユーロを拠出すると発表した際「ドイツの再生エネの容量は限定的だ」として、20億ユーロを海外でのグリーン水素産業育成に充てるとした。シーメンスのチリでの投資にも、こうした補助金が使われている。

日本は「グレー水素」優先

欧州が官民一体で新興国でのグリーン水素の開拓を進める一方、日本勢の動きは鈍い。日本政府は10月に閣議決定したエネルギー基本計画で30年の電源構成における水素・アンモニアの比率を1%としたが、資源エネルギー庁は「既存の水素供給源を最大限活用する」として、当面は化石燃料由来の「グレー水素」の輸入を優先する姿勢を崩していない。

ENEOSや岩谷産業、川崎重工業などがオーストラリアで製造したグリーン水素の輸入に向け動いているものの、規模は限定的だ。日本政府は30年までに最大300万トンの水素を活用するとしているが、大半はグレー水素になる。EUは30年に最大1000万トンのグリーン水素を製造するとしており、格差が大きく開きそうだ。

Translation

European companies had begun moving to South America and Africa to produce "green hydrogen" derived from renewable energy. This was because there was large suitable land for solar and wind power generation and the manufacturing cost was low. They cooperated with emerging countries that were focusing on attracting foreign capital to become an energy exporter, and were taking the lead in the new markets. The overseas business that the Japanese people were engaging in Australia and in other locations was small, and it was undeniable that they were late.

Manufacturing cost was 40% cheaper than in Japan

French power giant Engie had revealed that it was considering investing more than $ 2 billion in a green hydrogen project in Chile, South America. The company aimed to increase the size of the facility, starting with a plan to start operating a plant that produced hydrogen from solar panels in the desert area in the north by 2025.

The desert areas from central to northern Chile were suitable for solar power generation, and wind power generation was popular in the southern part near Antarctica. The cost of renewable energy required to produce green hydrogen was low. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the World Energy Council, the cost of producing green hydrogen in Chile was 3.5 to 3.75 euros per kilogram (about 450 to 480 yen) as of 2020, which was the lowest level in the world. It was cheaper than Japan’s by 40%.

The Chilean government planned to build green hydrogen and green ammonia production plants in these areas and export them worldwide. Engie was planning to build and operate renewable energy power plants in various places.

German Siemens Porsche was a synthetic fuel

In September, Siemens Energy AG, the world's leading water electrolyser that produced hydrogen from water, started a project to build a plant that made synthetic fuel from hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) in collaboration with Porsche and others in southern Chile. It planned to start production in 2022 and expanded its production capacity to 550 million liters by 2026. Sales would be made through Porsche dealers.

Synthetic fuel was produced by chemically synthesizing hydrogen and CO2. It could be used in the same way as ordinary gasoline, and CO2 emissions could be reduced by 90%. Siemens Energy sold green hydrogen production technology directly to ministerial officials and leading business executives in individual countries, including hosting an online conference etc. to discuss energy issues in central and south America.

Apart from the fact that Hydrogen was an energy source for power generation that replaced fossil fuels, its demand was expanding in a wide range of fields, for example as fuels for ships and automobiles, and in the low carbon production of steel. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that hydrogen consumption could increase to 528 million tons per year by 2050, six times that of 2020. Among them, green hydrogen produced from recycled energy was attracting attention as a carbon-free fuel.

Latin American countries, which had vast territories, enabled low costs for renewable energy and had a lot of room for development, but their industrial agglomeration was behind that of developed countries. European companies had appealed that the development of green hydrogen could lead to industrial development and job creation, and would cooperate with national and local governments. In October, Engie agreed with the state of Ceara in northeastern Brazil to promote regional development centering on the production of green hydrogen.

Presence in Africa

European companies also had a presence in Africa. Norwegian solar power company Skatec announced in October that it would embark on green hydrogen production in Egypt. In Egypt, Siemens Energy and the Italian Hydrocarbon Corporation (ENI) had also announced that they would work on green hydrogen projects.

European companies were also entering Morocco and Tunisia. Plans had also been raised to export hydrogen from Algeria and elsewhere to Europe via existing natural gas pipelines.

The European Commission (EU), which emphasized hydrogen as an energy source for decarbonization, stated in a report issued in 2020 that "the EU prioritizes hydrogen that is derived from renewable energy." "North Africa, which is geographically close, may supply the EU with cost-competitive hydrogen derived from renewable energy", and the public and private sectors could work together to support hydrogen production in Africa.

When the German government announced that it would contribute 9 billion euros to launch the hydrogen industry in 2020, it said that "Germany's renewable energy storage capacity is limited" and that 2 billion euros could be used to foster the green hydrogen industry overseas. These subsidies were also used for Siemens' investment in Chile.

Japan gave priority to "gray hydrogen"

While Europe was working together with the public and private sectors to develop green hydrogen in emerging countries, the Japanese movement was sluggish. For the Japanese government, its Cabinet in October decided that in the basic energy plan regarding the power source composition, the ratio of hydrogen and ammonia would be 1% for 2030, but the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy had stated that it would "maximize the existing hydrogen supply source" and for the time being, and to maintain its stance of prioritizing the import of "gray hydrogen" derived from fossil fuels.

Although ENEOS, Iwatani Corp., and Kawasaki Heavy Industries etc. were moving toward importing green hydrogen produced in Australia, the scale was limited. The Japanese government said it would utilize up to 3 million tons of hydrogen by 2030, but most would be gray hydrogen. As the EU had said it would produce up to 10 million tones of green hydrogen in 2030, so the gap was likely to widen.

So, European companies have begun to move into South America and Africa to produce "green hydrogen” from renewable energy that is available at a low cost. I think these South America countries will become wealthier as they become major clean energy exporting counties. Meanwhile Japan is looking to Australia for green hydrogen and the scale is much smaller when compared to the Europeans.