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Harnessing green hydrogen for New Zealand鈥檚 energy future

05 February 2025

What role does green hydrogen play in Aotearoa New 成人大片reaching a target of zero carbon emissions by 2050?

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Photo caption:听Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | 成人大片鈥疌ivil and Natural Resources Engineering PhD candidate Rafaella Canessa.

That鈥檚 a question Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | 成人大片鈥疌ivil and Natural Resources Engineering PhD candidate Rafaella Canessa hopes to answer through her research on New 成人大片energy transitions.

鈥淓stablishing green hydrogen infrastructure in New 成人大片requires a significant shift to achieve 100% renewable electricity, as green hydrogen production relies on green energy sources,鈥 Canessa says.听

鈥淧roducing green hydrogen requires renewable electricity. Although New 成人大片has substantial hydropower, achieving 100% renewable energy will require phasing out coal and diesel, and increasing reliance on solar and wind.

鈥淎n energy shift will impact not only electricity but also heat and transportation, necessitating sustainable solutions across these sectors and requiring a national-scale energy transformation.鈥澨

To understand the need for green energy use in New Zealand, Canessa is using Renewable Energy Mix (REMix)鈥攁 framework for modelling energy systems developed by the German Aerospace Centre鈥檚 Institute of Networked Energy Systems and adapting it to meet New Zealand鈥檚 needs.

鈥淩EMix has already been tested and proven in Europe, but Europe has a highly interconnected grid, higher demand and different renewable energy potentials. This makes it very different from an island nation like New 成人大片that uses predominantly hydroelectricity,鈥 she says.

鈥淲hat makes REMix-NZ unique is that it analyses multiple energy sectors鈥攍ike transportation and electricity鈥攖ogether, rather than separately, to better understand how they interact in hourly, detailed time periods, especially with energy carriers like hydrogen that work across various sectors.

鈥淭he role of green hydrogen in New 成人大片involves exploring its practical applications and the potential for the country to become a player in the global hydrogen market, possibly even as an exporter. While hydrogen is often discussed, its full impact鈥攑articularly on infrastructure requirements for electricity generation and energy transport鈥攔emains largely unquantified.鈥

Hydrogen demand is already high as it is widely used in the fertiliser, oil refining and chemical industries, however Canessa says that just because听 green hydrogen can do many things, does not necessarily mean it should.

鈥淎n example of this is electric vehicles (EVs). We need cars without emissions, and electric vehicles can do that already, if charged with green electricity. Using hydrogen as fuel would be much more inefficient and expensive, as electricity would have to be converted to hydrogen first,鈥 she says.

Getting to green hydrogen is also a key factor. 鈥淭he current hydrogen process uses steam methane which creates CO2 and is not a green solution.听 If the process changes to splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen with electricity (electrolysis) it is only a green solution if the electricity comes from clean energy like wind or solar鈥攏ot from fossil fuels like diesel.鈥澨

There are also other factors that can determine the need for green hydrogen.

鈥淕reen hydrogen will play a crucial role, but whether a country produces it locally or imports it, as well as the most suitable uses for it, will vary based on geographical, economic, social, and technological factors,鈥 Canessa says.

REMix-NZ will be the most detailed and advanced energy systems model created for New 成人大片and will consider all factors.听

鈥淯nlike earlier models, it has higher resolution in technology, time, and location, and includes updated assumptions and trends.听

鈥淩EMix-NZ integrates hydrogen into the modelling, accounting for costs such as system expenses, operational costs, installation costs, as well as carbon emissions, where to build the plants and lifetime efficiency,鈥 Canessa says.

鈥淲e are grateful for the support of the MBIE Catalyst: Strategic Fund and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research grant in making the HINT (New Zealand-German Platform for Green Hydrogen Integration) project possible.鈥

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 - Affordable and clean energy.

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