Potential volumes of hydrogen exports from Russia to the world market in 2050 may range from 15-50 million tonnes/year according to the new concept for the development of hydrogen energy, which the government approved on 5 August and published this week.

In the draft of this concept in April, it was assumed that by 2050, from 7.9-33.4m t/y of hydrogen would be exported from the country per year, earning more than $100 billion/y.

In the final version of the concept, there is no information on the expected revenue from sales of hydrogen abroad. But the forecast for its production and export has been increased by 1.5-2X.

Thus, if an estimate of the export of 33.4m t/y of hydrogen at $100 billion, then supplies of 50m t could bring Russia about $150 billion annually, Kallanish notes. The document was developed by the Ministry of Energy and agreed with companies and relevant departments.

The approved version of the concept states that the level of exports will depend on the rate of development of the global low-carbon economy and the growth in demand for hydrogen in the world market.

According to the Ministry of Energy, the demand for environmentally friendly hydrogen may grow significantly due to the plans of the European Union to achieve complete carbon neutrality by 2050.

The concept for the development of hydrogen energy contains a list of hydrogen production technologies, including steam reforming of methane, pyrolysis of hydrocarbons, gasification of coal and carbon-containing materials. Also, the production of hydrogen on the basis of nuclear power plants and technology for capturing, storing, transporting and using carbon dioxide and electrolysis of water with the creation of alkaline, solid-polymer and solid oxide electrolysers.