Bosch Estimates That the ‘Hydrogen Economy’ Could Generate Revenues of €5 Billion a Year by 2030

• This is affirmed by the president of the group in Spain and Portugal, Javier González Pareja.
• Bosch cuts its revenue in Spain by 3.8% in 2023 due to the saturation of the home appliances market.

The German multinational provider of technologies and services Bosch estimates that technological solutions based on hydrogen as a fuel, both for industry and electromobility, could generate around 5,000 million euros in revenue per year by 2030, according to the group’s president in Spain and Portugal, Javier González Pareja, in an interview with Europa Press.

“Bosch firmly believes in and is committed to the hydrogen economy; Our estimates say that in the year 2030, which seems to be a long way off, but is in five and a half years’ time, we could, in the hydrogen area alone, sell about 5,000 million euros, which today would be almost 10% of sales in the area of electromobility. And for that we have been investing 500 million euros a year since last year,” he explained.

The group thus seeks to promote the development of hydrogen from renewable energies (‘green hydrogen’) as a fuel to achieve climate neutrality and that can be used “in a competitive way”.

In addition to fuel cell and hydrogen combustion engine solutions for sustainable mobility, the German group wants to participate in the market for its production, which is in a phase of rapid growth.

To this end, González sees the need for support also from public administrations for research “and goodwill and diligence in regulations for the production of hydrogen”.

“What would we ask for? Be aware that, in order to increase the production of green hydrogen, we need a bureaucracy that quickly approves the procedures and, at least at the beginning, that the investment and also the operation have the necessary subsidy, as photovoltaic or wind energy had when they started, so that it is competitive,” said the company’s president.

In this regard, he pointed out that it is necessary to establish efficient supply chains, since “the best way to transport hydrogen” is to use hydrogen derivatives, and for this the European Union is already calling for there to be an effective fixed price for carbon in the countries of origin, although currently “there are few countries that have already introduced it”, Explained.

In addition, he indicated that hydrogen needs to be used in broad sectors of the economy, not just for mobility. “For example, the issue of heating and solutions for buildings, where today the CO2 emissions of buildings are, worldwide, even higher than those of the automotive industry,” he stressed.

He also added that, in order for this ‘hydrogen economy’ to take off, it is important that there is an infrastructure that better interconnects production centres and consumption centres.

The president of Bosch Spain and Portugal has also maintained that the future of vehicle propulsion “will be the electric motor”, but perhaps this will be powered by an electric battery that in large loads can be powered by hydrogen, so this element is key to the electrification of the automotive sector.

Technological neutrality

In this sense, Bosch states that in order to decarbonise large sectors of the economy and industries, which are currently difficult to electrify, such as heavy transport, it is necessary to commit to technological neutrality.

In addition, the executive pointed out that the company not only takes into account the new directives and regulations in Europe, but also looks at the development of the industry and decarbonisation regulations in other markets such as China and the US for the development of their technologies.

“We are committed to a concept called technological neutrality. In other words, the legislator legislates, but there have to be these technical possibilities to be able to get there. We see Europe as an important market for a global supplier like Bosch, but it is not the only one,” he said of the new measures introduced by the EU to decarbonise transport by 2040.

In this regard, he recalled that China produces more cars “than all the countries in Europe combined” and cars with combustion engines continue to be marketed in that country, so it is important, when making an investment to achieve sustainability, to have sufficient income for research and development.

“Sustainability is necessary and it’s not free. You can say, well, before what I invested in developing petrol and diesel engines, as I won’t need it anymore, I invest it in developing and researching more in electromobility. Bosch is known for investing more than 8% of its sales in research and development. But in Asia and America we will be able to continue selling internal combustion engines, so we have to be in that business,” explained the executive.

Synthetic fuels

Bosch is also committed to the development of synthetic and alternative fuels. In the presentation of its results in May, the president of the company in the Iberian Peninsula explained that the subsidiary in Spain is carrying out “a collaborative process” in which the fuel called HVO (‘Hydro Vegetable Oil’) is being used.

Specifically, the group’s subsidiary in Spain is collaborating with Repsol and Rhenus to test the use of HVO fuel in two trucks that make a daily round trip between the Rhenus operational hub in Irun, the Bosch factory in Aranjuez and the central warehouse of Bosch Fabrica Madrid.

“HVO fuel is plant-hydrotreated fuel. What it does is that biomass, bird droppings, or everything that is totally biodegradable, which is also a problem because this waste also has to be recycled, as it can be a biofuel where the CO2 emission is 80% lower and is being marketed at a very attractive price,” he explained.

Spain, a key country

Finally, the chairman of the group’s subsidiary in Spain, which closed 2023 with a total net sales turnover of €2,388 million, a decrease of 3.8% year-on-year, and €2,525 million, up 3.1% in sales to third parties, sees Spain as a key country for the production of renewable energy, especially green hydrogen.

González Pareja indicated that Bosch in the country is a member of the ‘Shyne’ alliance (Spain Hydrigen Network) whose main objective is to promote renewable hydrogen projects and maximize value throughout the value chain.

“We believe that Europe needs to boost the hydrogen economy more to be climate neutral and not only to be ready to use hydrogen, but to use it in a competitive way,” he concluded.

SOURCE: elEconomista.es

Original Article in Spanish: Bosch estimates that the ‘hydrogen economy’ could generate revenues of €5 billion a year by 2030 (eleconomista.es)

 

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