Uniper CEO advocates blue hydrogen, flags Irsching CCGT site as possible location

London — Uniper CEO Andreas Schierenbeck has advocated production of hydrogen from natural gas with carbon capture for a transitional period as the country strives to decarbonize its economy.

Europe is set to need a huge amount of hydrogen to meet climate targets, but costs and a lack of production capacity will prevent it, at least initially, from focusing solely on renewable hydrogen production via electrolysis, the CEO said.

The effort needed to encompass "not only green hydrogen but also blue hydrogen, at least for a transitional period," the Uniper CEO said at a press conference for the company's Q1 results.

The company, spun off from E.ON and now majority-owned by Finland's Fortum, has called for a "non-ideological, technology-neutral approach."

Efforts to build hydrogen infrastructure should be "supported by suitable subsidy schemes that include project-specific funding as well as general funding or quotas for the proportion of hydrogen in the gas grid," the CEO said.

Germany's government is currently split on how to proceed with a national hydrogen strategy, initially planned to be unveiled last year.

"Uniper's gas expertise is enabling it to expand and swiftly develop new hydrogen-based solutions," Schierenbeck said.

It is a major player in European gas supply and one of five European investors in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.

Uniper is working with Siemens Energy to explore the use of hydrogen in gas-fired power plants, Schierenbeck flagging the Irsching site near Munich as one option.

Siemens developed Uniper's gas-fired power plant at Irsching in Bavaria, where units 4 and 5 are currently mothballed.

While Uniper has the brownfield sites for transformation, Siemens is one of the world's largest manufacturers of electrolysers for production of hydrogen.

"We are ready to invest and have set the strategic course to significantly accelerate the decarbonization of our portfolio," Schierenbeck said when first announcing the joint venture in March.