# Hydrogen Materials and Technologies in the Aspect of Utilization in the Polish Energy Sector
## 6 The Future of Hydrogen in Poland
PHS assumes that by using P2G and G2P (power-to-gas and gas-to-power) installations [67], enabling the conversion and storage of electricity, it will be possible to utilise surplus energy from renewable sources to produce green hydrogen. The stored hydrogen can be used on site or transported to a collective hub and distributed further. When power is needed again, hydrogen can be used to produce energy. The development of the hydrogen market will be supported by the appearance of nuclear power plants in the Polish energy system, which are not very flexible either and generate significant energy surpluses that could be utilised to produce hydrogen. However, in the present Polish conditions, the date of construction of the first nuclear power plant remains an open question. Experience from recent years indicates a significant extension of its construction period. Moreover, the high capital costs of building a nuclear power plant will translate into higher costs of electricity production, which will affect the price of the obtained hydrogen. The costs of receiving, storing, and regenerating nuclear fuel must also be taken into account. Figure 5: Green hydrogen storage and conversion methods. One of the goals of PHS concerns the production of hydrogen in new installations. Its implementation will be supported by research and development projects for low- and zero-emission hydrogen production technologies. The strategy also envisages the launch of installations using electrolysis, gasification, and pyrolysis, as well as steam reforming to produce hydrogen from water, biomass, biogas, and biomethane. The installed capacity of installations for the production of low-emission hydrogen in Poland is expected to be 50 MW by 2025, and at the end of the decade, by 2030, it is expected to be 2 GW. It is worth emphasising that this power is currently 0 MW, and Poland only has prototype installations created as part of ongoing research and development projects (the largest installed electrolysers have a power of 5 MW). An electrolyser with a capacity of 100 MW producing 13.6 thousand tonnes/year of green hydrogen is to be launched only in 2027 at the refinery in Gdansk [81]. For the development of the hydrogen economy, it is therefore necessary to increase the pace of investment in new installations for the production of green hydrogen and to identify geographical locations where the deployment of large-scale installations will be the most profitable [82]. Currently, the transport sector is one of the most dependent on fossil fuels--it is estimated that 75% of CO\({}_{2}\) emissions come from road transport. Therefore, hydrogen can play a key role in this area, since it can be used directly as a fuel in cars, trucks, buses, trains, and ships powered by fuel cells. The advantage of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) using hydrogen as a fuel is a longer range because of their higher energy storage density compared to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) [66]. The use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel in transport is the second goal of the Polish Hydrogen Strategy and an undoubted opportunity to replace fossil fuels in urban, road, and rail transport. By 2025, support will be provided to projects involving the operation of 100-250 zero-emission hydrogen-powered buses, which requires the construction of approximately 30 hydrogen refuelling and bunkering stations [2]. Presently, there are two publicly accessible hydrogen stations in Poland, in Warsaw and Rybnik, built by the Polsat Plus Group and the ZE PAK Group under the NESO brand [83]. In turn, another hydrogen station of the Orlen Group is being tested in Poznan. Another Orlen hydrogen station will be built in Katowice this year, and others will be put into operation by mid-2025 [84]. At present, there are 20 NesoBus hydrogen buses in the city of Rybnik. Two Solaris Urbino hydrogen 12 buses are currently being tested in Krakow, powered by fuel from a pilot installation supplied from the first HUB automotive-grade quality hydrogen production in Poland, launched by Orlen in 2021.