The DanuP-2-Gas project partner MAHART-Szabadkikötő Zrt. held 2 online workshops with their project stakeholders at the end of September. Below is a short recap of both events.

List of speakers:

• Szávó Sztilkovics, CEO of MAHART-Szabadkikötő Zrt., (Workshop 1 and 2 – 21. 9. 2021, 30. 9. 2021)
• Zoltán Haász, Project Manager at MAHART-Szabadkikötő Zrt., (Workshop 1 and 2 – 21. 9. 2021, 30. 9. 2021)
• Zsuzsanna Czinki, Consultant to Ex Ante Tanácsadó Iroda, (Workshop 1 – 21. 9. 2021)
• Péter Hartmann, Director of Green-Invest Kft., (Workshop 1 – 21. 9. 2021)
• Dávid Varga, Consultant at Ex Ante Kft. Tanácsadója, (Workshop 2 – 30. 9. 2021)
• Pál Gábor Veres, Project Manager at MOL Nyrt., (Workshop 2 – 30. 9. 2021)

Moderator:

Zoltán Lengyel, Consultant

Both workshops were opened by Mr. Szávó Sztilkovics, the CEO of MAHART-Szabadkikötő Zrt. In his opening speech, he recalled the history of the MAHART-Szabadkikötő Zrt. and the importance of Csepel Freeport. He also talked about the earlier projects of MAHART, in which there was a possibility of transporting biomass with ships. The opening speech of the first workshop was finished by stating that the development of our civilization relies on the superabundance of energy and the energy consumption of individuals is very high, so it is a key issue to guarantee the reliable supply of energy. On the second workshop, among other things, he expressed that the P2G project is important because it is a preparation for the future and that humankind has never before had and used so much energy as it did in the last century. To continue this development, it is vital to use such energy sources which have never been utilized before, for example, hydrogen.

After the opening speeches of both workshops, Mr. Zoltán Haász introduced the Danube Transnational Programme and the DanuP-2-Gas project.

In the first workshop, the next presentation was made by Zsuzsanna Czinki, who exhibited the role of P2G technologies in the National Energy Strategy of Hungary and in the National Energy and Climate Plan of Hungary. The main focuses of these strategies are to ensure the energy sovereignty and the energy security of Hungary, to maintain the results of the regulated price reduction program, and to decarbonize energy production. Zsuzsanna Czinki showed two directions for action: on one hand, it is really important to strengthen the security of the country’s energy supply, while on the other hand, it is important to utilize energy innovation and the fight against climate change, in order to ensure the development of the Hungarian economy. Ms. Zsuzsanna Czinki also explained the main elements of the Hungarian strategy on the gas market. According to it, the production of CNG, biogas, and natural gas is gaining importance, in order to lessen the dependency on natural gas imports by 2040. She also talked about the elements of the Hungarian energy strategy in the electricity market.

In connection with the P2G technology, it is vital to extend the lifespan of the gas-fired power plants and to motivate the building of further capacities. Furthermore, innovative solutions, which can be operated in large numbers and efficiently, could play an enormous role as well. The storage of energy could be crucial in the future. This is also an area, where technical innovations could play a huge role. Using the natural gas network as a seasonal container could be a decisive issue for P2G technology because in that case, it would be possible to use methane, biogas, and hydrogen, produced by P2G processes.

The next presentation was held by Mr. Péter Hartmann, the director of Green-Invest Kft. He started his presentation with the issue of „sector coupling”, since essentially P2G technologies connect the natural gas and electricity sectors, by transforming electricity into gaseous energy carriers. According to Péter Hartmann, the electric power industry is facing a number of challenges, like the optimal utilization of the increasing photovoltaic energy sources and their dependency on weather. It is also an issue to reduce the surplus energy, to balance the consumption and the supply prompt need for energy. He also underlined the issue of energy storage, just as Zsuzsanna Czinki. He showed foreign examples, in which the hydrogen was fed into the natural gas network for heating purposes. In his opinion, methane will also be crucial in the future. He presented this through the example of Audi, who successfully operated 1500 cars with CNG. The Akvamarin project by the Magyar Földgáztároló Zrt. began on the 1st of February 2021. In this project, an approximately 2,5 MW electrolysis device and a gas processing terminal is planned to build. It is also very important that Hungarian regulations should be inspired by the already existing European ones and to use the existing experiences in order to create a better regulatory environment.

On the second workshops, presentations were held by Mr. Dávid Varga, Consultant at Ex Ante Kft. Tanácsadója and Mr. Pál Gábor Veres, Project Manager at MOL Nyrt.

After the opening speech and project presentation on the second workshop, Mr. Dávid Varga held a presentation on Hungary’s National Hydrogen Strategy and the EU Hydrogen Strategy. First off, he exhibited the vision and the goals of these strategies, emphasizing the potential of the R+D+I sector. He talked about the University of Pécs in this regard because from 2022 onwards, there will be a fuel cell and hydrogen technological engineering course. This is going to be the first course like this nationwide.

The hydrogen strategy has been developing for the last two years and it focuses on the 2026-2030 period. One of the most important goals is to make this industry greener and to decarbonize it partially. In comparison with the EU’s Hydrogen Strategy, the Hungarian one is focusing on the smaller goals. The strategy of the EU defines many basic notions, such as the definition of renewable hydrogen. Nevertheless, the usage of this taxonomy is yet to begin in Hungary. The importance of hydrogen is much smaller in comparison with other energy sources. In the foreseeable future, the most important kind of hydrogen will be the so-called blue hydrogen. The Hungarian strategy relies heavily on nuclear energy, especially on the currently building of the Paks II. Power Plant, meanwhile, in the EU’s strategy, nuclear power is not mentioned.

Mr. Pál Gábor Veres’ presentation was up next. Pál Gábor Veres started with the differentiation of the kind of hydrogen, based on the manufacturing technology. MOL Nyrt. has the required pipeline infrastructure to make the blue hydrogen project work. There is a possibility to turn grey hydrogen into blue, but the storage of carbon dioxide could be problematic because the pipelines were not developed to transport this kind of gas. Furthermore, the pipelines would have to go through Natura 2000 protected areas, which makes the process more expensive and the administration procedure harder. In his opinion, the industries' middle-term needs could only be satisfied with blue hydrogen, which can be manufactured with CC(U)S or pyrolysis technologies. CC(U)S technologies are still immature, and their widespread application is not expected until 2040, but the technology is developing at an ever-faster rate.

One of the potential solutions for the storage of captured carbon dioxide is the underground storage of the gas. There is also some room for improvement for this technology as it is uncertain that for how long we can store the carbon dioxide without the danger of leaking. The usage of the captured carbon dioxide will also be a possibility after 2035. Carbon dioxide captured in industrial processes could be used for many things, for example producing a polymer, chemical fertilizer, or even in the building industry. This kind of carbon dioxide can substitute many hydrocarbon-based raw materials. The problem is that this kind of technology is also only in an experimental state.

At the end of the workshop, there was a question about the size of the carbon-dioxide storage capacity of Hungary, but these storages are currently under mapping and there is no public information about it.