???? 據能源新聞3月7日消息稱，烈日灼烤的廣闊土地和持續的紅海微風使沙特阿拉伯的西北角成為黃金地帶，沙特王國希望它將成為全球綠色氫能源中心。
????在各國政府和企業尋求污染更少的碳氫化合物替代品之際，作為全球最大的原油出口國，沙特不希望將蓬勃發展的氫業務拱手讓給歐洲或澳大利亞，從而失去一個潛在的巨大收入來源。因此，該國正在建設一個耗資50億美元、完全依靠太陽能和風能發電的工廠，該工廠將于2025年在規劃中的超級城市Neom投入使用，屆時它將成為世界上最大的綠色氫生產商之一。
????將一片比利時大小的沙漠改造成可再生能源大都市的任務由德國最大的公用事業公司RWE AG的前首席執行官Peter Terium負責。他的表現將有助于決定一個依賴石油美元的國家能否轉型為無污染燃料的供應國。
????Terium說：“關于這個方面的挑戰，我從未見過或聽到過。在過去的兩年里，我一直在思考‘從零開始’，現在我們已經進入了執行模式。”
????氫氣正從一種小范圍的能源——用于齊柏林飛艇、火箭和核武器——轉變為大產業，僅歐盟就承諾投入5000億美元擴大其基礎設施。天然氣要成為能源轉型的重要組成部分，仍然存在巨大的障礙，持懷疑態度的人指出，沙特阿拉伯目前在利用可再生能源行業的競爭優勢方面表現不佳，尤其是太陽能，該行業計劃很多，但運營項目很少。
????但各國正在爭奪未來全球市場的地位，氫專家將沙特列為一個值得關注的國家。
????英國正在籌備10個用天然氣為建筑物供暖的項目，日本計劃將天然氣用于鋼鐵生產。美國總統氣候特使克里敦促國內石油和天然氣行業擁抱氫的“巨大機遇”。
????這意味著這家名為赫利奧斯綠色燃料公司的工廠將擁有大量潛在客戶。沙特阿拉伯正把目光投向成為世界上最大的氫供應國——彭博社估計，到2050年，這個市場的價值可能高達7000億美元。
????咨詢公司Strategy&駐迪拜合伙人Shihab Elborai表示:“你將看到能源出口的投資組合更加多樣化，也更有彈性。針對能源轉型的速度和時機方面的任何不確定性，它都是多元化的。”
????藍圖正在制定中，戰略也在宣布中，但對這個行業來說還處于早期階段。在不排放溫室氣體的情況下，氫的制造成本很高，難以儲存，而且極易燃燒。
????綠色氫是通過使用可再生能源而不是化石燃料生產的。根據國際可再生 能源機構的數據，目前生產一公斤的成本不到5美元。
????沙特阿拉伯擁有永久的陽光和風，以及廣闊的未使用土地的競爭優勢。據BNEF稱，赫利奧斯的成本可能將是全球最低的，到2030年可能達到每公斤1.50美元。這比今天用不可再生資源制造的氫更便宜。
????Terium表示，在歐洲生產可再生能源的成本更高，而歐洲大陸在實施綠色協議時的預期需求應該會超過其自身的供應。超過1萬億美元的刺激計劃將試圖使歐洲大陸達到碳中和。
????朱佳妮 摘譯自 能源新聞
????原文如下：
????Saudi Arabia’s bold plan to rule the $700 billion hydrogen market
????Sun-scorched expanses and steady Red Sea breezes make the northwest tip of Saudi Arabia prime real estate for what the kingdom hopes will become a global hub for green hydrogen.
????As governments and industries seek less-polluting alternatives to hydrocarbons, the world’s biggest crude exporter doesn’t want to cede the burgeoning hydrogen business to Europe or Australia and lose a potentially massive source of income. So it’s building a $5 billion plant powered entirely by sun and wind that will be among the world’s biggest green hydrogen makers when it opens in the planned megacity of Neom in 2025.
????The task of turning a patch of desert the size of Belgium into a metropolis powered by renewable energy falls to Peter Terium, the former chief executive officer of RWE AG, Germany’s biggest utility. His performance will help determine whether a country dependent on petrodollars can transition into a supplier of non-polluting fuels.
????“There’s nothing I’ve ever seen or heard of this dimension or challenge,” Terium said. “I’ve been spending the last two years wrapping my mind around ‘from scratch,’ and now we’re very much in execution mode.”
????Hydrogen is morphing from a niche power source — used in zeppelins, rockets and nuclear weapons — into big business, with the European Union alone committing $500 billion to scale up its infrastructure. Huge obstacles remain to the gas becoming a major part of the energy transition, and skeptics point to Saudi Arabia’s weak track record so far capitalizing on what should be a competitive edge in the renewables business, especially solar, where there are many plans but few operational projects.
????But countries are jostling for position in a future global market, and hydrogen experts list the kingdom as one to watch.
????The U.K. is hosting 10 projects to heat buildings with the gas and Japan is planning to use the gas in steelmaking. U.S. presidential climate envoy John Kerry urged the domestic oil and gas industry to embrace hydrogen’s “huge opportunities.”
????That should mean plenty of potential customers for the plant called Helios Green Fuels. Saudi Arabia is setting its sights on becoming the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen — a market that BloombergNEF estimates could be worth as much as $700 billion by 2050.
????“You’re seeing a more diversified portfolio of energy exports that is more resilient,” said Shihab Elborai, a Dubai-based partner at consultant Strategy&. “It’s diversified against any uncertainties in the rate and timing of the energy transition.”
????Blueprints are being drawn and strategies are being announced, but it’s still early days for the industry. Hydrogen is expensive to make without expelling greenhouse gases, difficult to store and highly combustible.
????Green hydrogen is produced by using renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. The current cost of producing a kilogram is a little under $5, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
????Saudi Arabia possesses a competitive advantage in its perpetual sunshine and wind, and vast tracts of unused land. Helios’s costs likely will be among the lowest globally and could reach $1.50 per kilogram by 2030, according to BNEF. That’s cheaper than some hydrogen made from non-renewable sources today.
????It’s more expensive to produce renewable energy in Europe, and the continent’s anticipated demand while implementing a Green Deal should exceed its own supply, Terium said. That $1 trillion-plus stimulus package will try to make the continent carbon-neutral.
