Hydrogen markets need transparency; a price reporting agency looks to give it some
When looking out over alternative low-carbon energy sources for the future of trucking and other forms of transportation, hydrogen plays an increasingly central role in the discussion. But what does hydrogen cost and what does it need to cost to be competitive with diesel?
S&P Global Platts, already the leading producer of petroleum and other benchmark price data, has launched what is believed to be the first daily price assessment for the value of hydrogen, with assessments in multiple locations and for hydrogen produced through different types of processes.
Platts earlier this year released a report that painted an optimistic scenario for hydrogen use in trucks.
Zane McDonald, a senior researcher with the Platts Analytics segment who studies alternative transportation fuels, laid out the price challenges hydrogen faces. In an interview with FreightWaves, McDonald said that using the current performance parameters of the Toyota Miria, a hydrogen car, hydrogen would need to be $3.50/kilogram to break even against a diesel price of $3/gallon. That figure, he said, assumes differences in maintenance costs, weight and other aerodynamics that would come with a truck powered by hydrogen rather than diesel....MORE
The current retail price of hydrogen at a distribution station in California? About $16/kg.
But while that bridge may seem insurmountable, Platts officials said they believe transparency can work to bring prices down. Simon Thorne, the global director of generating fuels at Platts, noted that about a dozen years ago the price of LNG was opaque....
The technologies being priced are Steam Reforming (SRM) and Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysis. The costs are either all-in including capex or just production costs.
Somewhat surprisingly the geographies include two U.S. locations (Gulf Coast and California) but none in Asia, yet. The Netherlands will also have a published price.
Here's the press release, December 18:
S&P Global Platts Launches World's First Hydrogen Price Assessments
