Snam returns to Cernobbio to present H2 Italy 2050: a national hydrogen supply chain for the growth and decarbonisation of Italy, the study carried out by The European House - Ambrosetti in collaboration with the group led by Marco Alverà. It is an opportunity to examine, in more depth, the opportunities that hydrogen can offer both in the decarbonisation path that Italy wants to achieve, based on the Energy and Climate Plan in 2050, and to evaluate the potential of the industrial chain Italian in this sector.
It is above all the drop in prices that has relaunched this source of energy, explained the CEO of Snam Marco Alverà in the press conference in which he also participated Valerio DeMolli, Managing Partner & CEO of The European House – Ambrosetti. "If in 2000 the price of hydrogen from renewable sources was forty times higher than that of oil - said Alverà - today we estimate that it will be able to become competitive with some current fuels within five years and satisfy around a quarter of Italy's energy demand to 2050. As the study shows, thanks to its geographical position, the strength of the manufacturing and energy sectors and a widespread gas transport network, our country has the potential to become a green hydrogen continental hub it's a infrastructural bridge with North Africa, assuming an important role in the European Hydrogen Strategy”.
De Molli, on the other hand, underlined that the goal of energy transition must be rigorously pursued but that "European countries must also set themselves the goal of becoming world leaders in the research and production of innovative technologies". In the case of Italy, the study presented in Cernobbio mapped the hydrogen industrial chain and identified the enabling technologies through an innovative model which saw the analysis of over 3.700 technologies and the construction of a new and extensive base data." The results of the analysis – concluded De Molli – highlight a highly competitive positioning of Italy”.
According to the penetration scenarios for Italy, hydrogen has the potential to cover the 23% of national energy demand by 2050. This increase in the share of hydrogen in final energy consumption would allow the country to reduce emissions by 97,5 million tons of CO2eq, corresponding to a reduction of approx 28% compared to today's Italian climate-changing emissions.
In order to fully benefit from the development of this industrial chain, however, Italy will have to invest - the research states - in innovation and development. Currently the country enjoys an important position in three fields: production of thermal technologies for hydrogen (first producer in Europe, with a market share of 24%), mechanical technologies for hydrogen (second producer in Europe, with a market share of 19%) e technologies for the production of renewable hydrogen (second producer in Europe, with a market share of 25%). The latter is obviously the greenest sector of the three examined.
Coming then to the various hypothesized development scenarios, Italy could activate a production value of technologies related to the hydrogen supply chain between 64 and 111 billion euros to 2050, also thanks to supply and sub-supply activities and the induced effect on consumption. The cumulative value of production of supply chains connected to hydrogen, considering direct, indirect and induced effects, in the period 2020-2050 is between 890 and 1.500 billion euros. In terms of contribution to GDP, the added value (direct, indirect and induced) is estimated in a range between 22 and 37 billion euros to 2050. The contribution to the economy is also attributable to employment, thanks to the possible creation, between direct, indirect and induced impacts, of a number of new jobs between 320.000 and 540.000 the 2050.
To learn more, read also Hydrogen revolution: this is how the geopolitics of energy will change
