Acting Energy Minister Olha Buslavets intends to sign in Germany a memorandum on a new energy partnership, providing for the development of hydrogen technologies in Ukraine, said chairman of the Ukrainian Hydrogen Council Association Oleksandr Repkin.
“On August 25-27, head of the Ministry of Energy Olha Buslavets will visit Germany, where it is planned to sign a memorandum on a new energy partnership, of which hydrogen energy is a part. Ukraine is going there to propose certain pilot projects with a scale of 100 MW, similar to the project being implemented in Morocco – a solar-hydrogen plant with a capacity of 100 MW,”Repkin said during an online discussion on the prospects for the development of hydrogen energy in Ukraine, organized by the energy committee of the Ukrainian Venture Capital Association on Tuesday.
He said Germany considered that it would not have enough of its own resources for the production of renewable hydrogen, therefore it considers Ukraine as a partner for obtaining this resource.
He also announced on August 14 the first meeting of the expert working group under the Ministry of Energy under his leadership, at which, in particular, the issue of adapting Ukraine’s energy strategy regarding hydrogen technologies will be considered.
“We are starting concrete steps to keep up with the EU countries,” Repkin said.
He also noted that according to the European Hydrogen Strategy, recently presented by the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, Europe regards Ukraine as a partner, but it is necessary to develop the internal hydrogen market for this.
“In Europe, they see us as a 10GW partner. What does this mean? There is such an opportunity, and they will support us. But there is one thing, which is not spelled out, but it is said. They will support only those countries that create an internal hydrogen market in their country. “Timmermans made it clear: friends, we are ready to help you with 7.5 GW so that you create and import them, but for 2.5 GW you must create your own market,” Repkin said, noting that by the end of 2023, “We are expected to half a million tonnes of import of renewable hydrogen, and in the future – 3 million tonnes annually.”
According to him, in order to enter the European market in Ukraine, conditions must be provided, in particular for the use of hydrogen transport, there must also be the use of hydrogen in the metallurgical and chemical industries.
He said that in Ukraine there is already an example of the construction of the first hydrogen filling station in partnership with the Danes.
“Entrepreneurs from Kharkiv have joined our association. Their idea is to convert all public transport to hydrogen,” said the head of the association.
At the same time, he predicted that the development of hydrogen technologies in the country will proceed more actively than expected.
As reported, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine can become a reliable supplier of hydrogen to the EU, in particular to Germany.
In July, the European Union adopted a strategy for the introduction of renewable hydrogen. It involves the addition of an integrated energy system with a massive industrial production of renewable hydrogen. It can serve as a source of energy where the use of electricity is difficult. In the future, it will be produced mainly using wind and solar energy.
Ukrspecexport, part of the Ukroboronprom State Concern, and the Turkish company Baykar Defense are developing a next generation unmanned aerial vehicle Akinci.
“The new generation strike UAV Akinci is being developed in accordance with the requirements of armed conflicts of the 21st century and is intended primarily for both Turkish and Ukrainian armed forces. One of its main advantages is the ability to deliver high-precision strikes with the same weapons that are used on conventional airplanes. We are talking about heavy-duty ammunition weighing hundreds of kilograms,” Ukroboronprom’s press service said.
According to the state concern, this has become possible thanks to the use of Ukrainian engines, which provide greater carrying capacity, speed and flight altitude, economy and ease of operation.
Akinci refers to the new “heavy” class of drones. It is equipped with two Ukrainian-made engines that provide flight at an altitude of more than 12 km. The drone has a wingspan of 20 meters, is capable of lifting more than 1,000 kg of weapons into the air and being in flight for a day.
The drone is equipped with the most advanced surveillance systems from thermal imagers and powerful cameras to radars with an active phased antenna array and numerous sensors.
“All this allows us to reveal even well-camouflaged targets at a considerable distance, to transmit coordinates for destruction, or to independently launch high-precision strikes,” Ukroboronprom said.
Akinci’s weapons range includes guided missiles and various conventional and high-precision bombs. Such armament allows the drone to destroy enemy manpower and equipment, as well as to strike at important enemy targets – fortifications, command and communications centers, bridges, warehouses, etc.
As reported, in 2019 the state-owned company Ukrspecexport and the Turkish Baykar Defence, which is one of the leading manufacturers of drones, created a joint venture that specializes in high-precision weapons and aerospace technologies. The main task of the joint venture is to combine the capacities of the defense complexes of the two countries for the mass production of new models of modern weapons for their own armies. This will allow moving away from classic arms sales and purchase contracts to a fundamentally new level of cooperation. The cooperation will exploit synergies of defense technologies and a combination of advanced developments in Turkey and Ukraine.
