The ramp-up of the hydrogen market is currently characterized by uncertainty. In particular, the willingness of potential customers to pay poses a challenge that is currently leading to a reluctance to invest at all stages of the value chain and is resulting in a currently illiquid market for green hydrogen. In this market, volatile supply due to fluctuations in the feed-in of renewable energies meets time-invariant demand. The necessary balancing of supply and demand results in structuring costs.
Structuring via the hydrogen market is likely to be difficult, at least during the market ramp-up, as no supra-regional balancing effects in generation or economies of scale in the grid and storage infrastructure can be utilized. As a result, the structuring costs in an illiquid market could be higher than in a liquid market and noticeably increase the price of green hydrogen.
At present, above-ground hydrogen storage facilities in particular are being considered for structuring. The RED-II criteria for green hydrogen prevent the balancing of feed-in fluctuations based on the electricity market. Options for reducing the illiquidity of the market and thus the structuring costs could include the temporary blending of green hydrogen with grey hydrogen and the relaxation of the RED II requirements in order to structure hydrogen production using grid electricity.
