Hydrogen production in Russia

Hydrogen transport in Russia

Main article: Hydrogen transport in Russia

Chronicle

2023

Growth of hydrogen production in Russia by 1% to 2.4 billion cubic meters

In 2023, the volume of hydrogen production in Russia reached 2.4 billion cubic meters. The indicator of the previous year, when 2.39 billion cubic meters of these products were received, was exceeded by about 1%. Industry trends are addressed in the BusinesStat survey presented in early November 2024.

Analysts note that the positive dynamics is due to the demand for hydrogen in many areas, including the chemical and food industries, metallurgy, power and oil refining. In particular, hydrogen is used to produce ammonia, methanol, plastics, hydrogen chloride and hydrochloric acid, as well as Euro 5 fuel. In addition, hydrogen is necessary to check the tightness of food packaging.

It is estimated that 2.05 billion cubic meters of hydrogen were produced in Russia in 2018. A year later, output decreased by 4.9%, amounting to 1.95 billion cubic meters. In 2020 and 2021, an increase of 15.4% and 7.4% was recorded, respectively, with a final result of 2.25 billion and 2.42 billion cubic meters. And in 2022, a decrease of 1.2% was noted.

The largest players in the market under consideration in the Russian Federation are PJSC NK, Rosneft LLC, Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat Kemerovo JSC, Nitrogen PJSC Novosibirsk Chemical Concentration Plant(NZHK), Linde Azot Togliatti LLC. A characteristic feature of the domestic hydrogen industry is that the largest manufacturers of these products are simultaneously its main consumers. About 95% of the hydrogen produced in Russia comes from in-plant consumption. The use of hydrogen in most cases is integrated into single chains with the production of final products, which is due to the high cost of its storage and transportation. At the same time, hydrogen transportation on an industrial scale is not practiced in Russia.^[1]

Companies in Russia will compensate 70% of the cost of hydrogen technologies

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree according to which companies in Russia will be compensated for part of the costs of hydrogen technologies. The corresponding document was signed in October 2023.

According to the press service of the Cabinet, the state will reimburse scientific organizations and enterprises up to 70% of the costs of developing technologies for the production, transportation and storage of hydrogen, which will then be used in the implementation of large projects in the field of hydrogen power. Funds will be allocated to organizations that have passed the competitive selection of the Ministry of Energy. They can be used to pay employees directly involved in the development of new technologies, material costs associated with such research, the purchase of raw materials and materials of Russian production, and the creation of experimental batches of products. The subsidy can be provided for up to three years.

Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree according to which companies will be compensated for part of the costs of hydrogen technologies

Such a measure of state support will make it possible to stimulate the innovative activities of scientific centers, enterprises and companies operating in the field of hydrogen power, - said Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.

According to the press service of the government, in 2023-2024. more than 1.3 billion rubles were reserved for the payment of subsidies in the federal budget. The work is underway within the framework of the federal project "Clean Energy" of the state program "Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation" and the state program "Energy Development."

According to forecasts of the Ministry of Energy, the actual level of hydrogen supplies from the Russian Federation in 2030 may amount to 1.4 million tons of hydrogen per year instead of the estimated 2.2 million tons. The creation of production in the Russian Federation will require $21.1 billion of investments, export revenue is estimated by the department at $12.8 billion.

Government of the Russian Federation Resolution of October 11, 2023 No. 1679

Ultra-pure hydrogen began to receive in Russia

In Russia, they began to receive ultra-pure hydrogen. Their achievement in September 2023 was told at the Catalysis Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In 2021, on the basis of the Catalysis Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Center for the Scientific and Technological Initiative "Hydrogen as the Basis of a Low-Carbon Economy" was created. The consortium includes research organizations, universities and companies such as Gazprom Neft and Rosatom. As part of one of the projects - "Hydrogen refueling" - a unit for producing pure hydrogen was created based on matrix conversion (partial oxidation) of natural gas. It consists of a matrix conversion reactor and a carbon monoxide vapor conversion membrane reactor. During the tests, hydrogen was obtained with a purity of more than 99.99%.

In the Russian Federation learned to receive ultra-pure hydrogen

In addition, a method for modifying zeolite adsorbents for short-cycle adsorption has been developed. It will control the selectivity of the sorption of methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other gases from which hydrogen needs to be extracted. Modified sorbents based on NaX sorbent (zeolite) were obtained and successfully tested.

Earlier, the company "Polikom" created an electrolysis generator of ultrapure hydrogen with a capacity of 6 cubic meters per hour. This is the first hydrogen generator built in Russia on the principles of modern alkaline-free electrolysis technology. The new plant has a number of advantages over outdated alkaline electrolyzers - it is safer, much easier to maintain, and the final product has no oxygen and alkali impurities, and accordingly does not need additional purification.

According to the developers, the domestic electrolysis generator is not inferior to foreign counterparts, and the localization of production in the Russian Federation will provide higher availability of equipment for domestic consumers. Thus, the installation of the Moscow Region company can become a key tool for creating hydrogen infrastructure in Russia.^[2]

2022: Production growth of 16.6% over 5 years - up to 2.39 billion cubic meters

By the end of 2022, hydrogen production in Russia reached 2.39 billion cubic meters, which is 16.6% more than in 2018, when the volume of production was measured at 2.05 billion cubic meters. Such data are indicated in a study by the analytical company BusinesStat (published in early May 2023).

According to experts, the growing release of hydrogen is due to the breadth of its use: chemical industry (the use of hydrogen for the production of ammonia, methanol, plastics, hydrogen chloride, hydrochloric acid), metallurgy (hydrogen is involved in the reduction of some metals), power (hydrogen is an alternative source of fuel), oil refining (hydrogen is used to obtain Euro 5 fuel), medicine (hydrogen is involved in the production of aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution), food industry (hydrogen is necessary for checking tightness in food packaging).

Hydrogen production in Russia decreased after two years of growth

Analysts called the characteristic feature of the domestic hydrogen market that the largest manufacturers of these products are simultaneously its main consumers. About 90% of the hydrogen produced in Russia in 2018-2022. accounted for in-plant consumption. The use of hydrogen in most cases is integrated into single chains with the production of final products (ammonia, methanol, polyamides), which is due to the high cost of its storage and transportation.

The researchers note that hydrogen transportation is not applied on an industrial scale. Hydrogen is difficult to transport because it seeps through the metal, destroys it and escapes. In the market value of hydrogen, transportation and storage costs can reach 70%. In order to optimize expenses, the main consumer industries in Russia in 2018-2022 continued to increase their independent production of hydrogen at the sites of its direct use.^[3]

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