H2Tech - Q3 2022 - 27

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES
Data-led development can build a
responsive and resilient green H2
With $500 B in the investment pipeline, the hydrogen (H2
energy sector.
)
economy has taken off in 2022. More than 350 large-scale H2
projects have been announced, including 28 giga-scale H2
duction projects. Data-led development will help us build a responsive
and resilient clean H2
The world has shown its determination to slash greenhouse
gas emissions and bring global warming levels down to 1.5°C
on the road to tackling climate change. Achieving these ambitions
is the task ahead of us, and the global community will
need to use every tool in its arsenal.
Technologies that utilize H2
promise. H2 gas can power households and factories and serve
as fuel for cars, ships and planes when deployed effectively. In
the process, it could play a vital role in reducing the use of fossil
fuels and minimizing carbon emissions across several industries
facing strict climate targets.
H2 may be the missing link in the clean energy transformation.
H2
sil fuels. Green H2
is the simplest and most abundant element on earth
can deliver nearly three times the amount of energy as fos-created
using renewable energy instead
of fossil fuels-can be produced wherever there is water and
renewable electricity. Not only is it helping to decarbonize the
chemical, industrial and transportation sectors, but since it can
be produced during peak cycles, green H2
can be a way of storing
excess energy to be returned to the grid when demand rises.
A 2021 study1
mates that H2 gas could help cut carbon dioxide (CO2
produced for the sector's major players esti)
emissions
by 20% between now and 2050 and satisfy 15%-20%
of energy demand. There are now 359 H2
fuel projects in development
worldwide, with a total investment pipeline worth
$500 B. That includes $150 B in mature investments.
The digital road to the green H2
are beginning to seek a place in this new H2
sector. More companies
economy. Producing
green H2, however, will require a multipronged approach
that maximizes efficiency gains at every step along the way
through optimized value chains and consistent operations.
As a sector that has come of age in the digital era, the new
H2 economy will naturally depend on advanced technologies-
including data, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence
(AI)-to achieve the scale necessary for an actual transformative
effect. By applying digital learnings from other sectors, we can
avoid costly mistakes that could have long-term legacy effects.
and burns clean when mixed with oxygen. Pound for pound,
H2
prosector
H.
GULATI, AVEVA, Lake Forest, California
Let us look at four ways that technological advancements
are making the most of the H2
transformation:
* Promoting shorter engineering and design cycles.
Producing H2
gas requires building new electrolyzers.
to create energy show great
Given the tight deadline to realize our low-carbon goals,
these facilities must be designed and constructed to
function at the highest level with sustainability in mind,
right from the outset. Therefore, short but effective
design cycles are key to success. In both greenfield
projects and brownfield renewable energy plants, digital
process simulation can bring agility to the entire lifecycle
of designing, prototyping, training and operating to
accelerate the engineering cycle. Integrating design
and build processes onto a single platform will allow
businesses to function with global business footprints
and remote working models so engineers anywhere can
explore all dimensions of a potential design and quantify
its impact on sustainability, feasibility and profitability.
* Unifying data to improve decisions and optimize
collaboration. In modern industrial organizations,
every aspect of the production process is monitored
and analyzed with sensors that can generate
hundreds of thousands of data points. When collated
across siloed departments and geographies, this
information improves edge-to-enterprise visibility
while promoting integration and collaboration across
functional departments to enhance daily activities and
processes. Along the way, operational inefficiencies
are exposed, empowering critical decisions and
adjustments that directly impact the bottom line.
* Staying responsive with optimized value chains.
The H2
economy is emerging during a complex time
when it is essential to optimize every element of
the value chain to derive maximum operating profit
while satisfying regulatory requirements. Industrial
data can be harnessed using cloud and digital twin
technologies to improve responsiveness across the
value chain. By closely monitoring operations in real
time, optimization techniques can sharpen plant
performance and profits while enabling troubleshooting
production processes and rapid analysis using
rigorous models. Concurrently, advanced supply
chain oversight enables predictive responses to
fluctuations in demand and available resources.
* Expanding plant reliability through AI-infused
H2Tech | Q3 2022 27
H2Tech - Q3 2022

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