Episode 6: Richard Oblath

 

 

In the sixth episode, we hosted Dr. Richard Oblath, who boasts 25 years of experience at Royal Dutch Shell and currently serves as Executive Chairman to H2Transition Capital and Non-Executive Director to Boson Energy. He provided his views on trends in hydrogen business transformation, the hydrogen global supply chain and trading, future development scenarios, and much more.

 

 

 

 

For our sixth episode, we spoke with Dr. Richard Oblath, who worked for 40 years in Industry with nearly 2/3rds at Royal Dutch Shell and is currently the Executive Chairman at H2Transition Capital, a private equity firm investing in the hydrogen value chain, and a Non-Executive Director of Boson Energy, a company producing hydrogen and energy from waste.

 

According to Dr. Oblath, blue hydrogen will drive overall clean hydrogen production, with green hydrogen following in its tail. Today, producing hydrogen from fossil fuels is the cheapest option in most parts of the world, with the cost of hydrogen from natural gas ranging from USD 0.5 to USD 1.7 per kg, depending on gas prices. Using CCUS technologies decreases emissions from hydrogen production and increases the levelised cost of production to around USD 1 to USD 2 per kg while producing hydrogen with renewable energy costs from between USD 3 to USD 8 per kg. According to the IEA’s NZE scenario (Net Zero Emissions 2050 Scenario), hydrogen from renewables will fall to as low as USD 1.3 per kg by 2030 in regions with rich renewable resources (USD 1.3-3.5 per kg), comparable with the cost of hydrogen from natural gas with CCUS. In the longer term, the cost of hydrogen produced from renewable electricity will fall as low as USD 1 per kg (ranging from USD 1.0-3.0 per kg) in the NZE Scenario, making hydrogen from renewable energy cost-competitive with hydrogen from natural gas even without CCUS in several regions.

 

“This is the classic issue of the new business,” said Dr. Oblath referring to the challenges of creating the hydrogen economy, where supply and demand have to be developed together, bringing costs down by providing a steadily growing supply and insuring long term demand. In the UK, home to mature natural gas infrastructure, hydrogen can find its place in many uses, from potentially replacing natural gas for heating and cooling, to mobility applications, as well as for backup energy storage. The UK can also take advantage of its geology, with large salt caverns that can be repurposed for storing hydrogen during the short and long term. “The ability to take the population and politicians with us on this journey is difficult,” said Dr. Oblath, sharing the consensus that the hydrogen community has an important need to educate leaders and the general public on the benefits and importance of hydrogen to ensure it reaches its full potential to be a major participant in the global decarbonisation in the run-up to net zero in 2050.

 

Tune in to hear about major challenges related to hydrogen business transformation, the current state of the hydrogen sector, potential applications, and Dr. Oblath’s predictions about the timeline of hydrogen development leading up to 2050.

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