Hydrogen as the protagonist of our energy transition

With which business models to develop the hydrogen supply chain in Italy? This is the question at the center of the event organized by Confindustria in Rome on June 5th and 6th. Two days to analyze real cases and concrete examples in different sectors in order to actively contribute to the construction of the hydrogen supply chain in our country, in line with the objectives of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the national and European hydrogen strategy.

A path towards energy transition that also involves the Esseco Group. In a “hard to abate” sector like industrial chemistry, which is highly energy-intensive, a series of choices have been made and are being implemented to increase the sustainability of its production processes, contributing to the development of the renewable hydrogen sector.

HYDROGEN IN PIEVE VERGONTE

At the Hydrochem Italia plant in Pieve Vergonte (VB), sodium chloride and potassium chloride are transformed into commercial products such as caustic soda, caustic potash, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite, and chlorotoluenes/dichlorotoluenes. In the production process, excess hydrogen resulting from electrolysis and not used for hydrochloric acid production is used to meet part of the thermal energy needs of the plant. This covers 2 MW of the company’s energy requirements.

Hydrogen is used to reduce methane consumption for steam generation used in the distillation column. Thanks to 75% of green electricity produced by hydroelectric power plants, Hydrochem is one of the few chemical companies in the country that can be considered environmentally sustainable.

Today, Hydrochem is working on future projects for the production of green hydrogen, which will complement the hydrogen already produced by the chlor-alkali and potassium chlorate plants, which, as described, are primarily powered by hydroelectric energy.