Polish natural hydrogen initiative. AGH University concludes an agreement

“The starting point for our joint initiative is hydrogen, which plays a key role for the future of industry, economy, and energy, representing not only an innovative energy source but also an opportunity to achieve sustainable development. In the context of a dynamically changing energy market, the development of hydrogen technology is essential to ensure energy stability and economic competitiveness. Therefore, it is particularly important to educate students in this field, future engineers and scientists who will be leaders of the energy transition,” explained Professor Jerzy Lis, AGH University Rector.

“The objective of ORLEN Group's hydrogen strategy is to strengthen the Company's position in the entire hydrogen value chain, from production, to distribution, to storage of renewable hydrogen, to its various industrial applications. The establishment of the initiative is an expression of our commitment to all aspects of the development of the domestic hydrogen market. The initiative is also part of the ORLEN Group's policy on cooperation with scientific communities, which we have been pursuing for many years. Together with outstanding Polish scientific and research centres, we want to expand our scientific and technical cooperation and implement its effects in business practice. We have been active in the field of exploration and production of hydrocarbons and other raw materials in Poland for several decades, so we have unique competences and a wealth of experience to take on new and demanding challenges. An added value of the initiative will be joint educational and popularisation activities related to the hydrogen management.”

“The search for hydrogen accumulation in the Earth's crust, i.e. geological or natural hydrogen deposits, is a challenge which the Polish Geological Institute - NRI, being the state geological service, has been undertaking for almost two years now. We are trying to determine which geological horizons, rock formations, are the most promising in terms of the occurrence of natural hydrogen in Poland and what are the chances of discovering and economically managing the deposits of this raw material. This issue is important not only from the point of view of the energy transformation of our country's economy, but natural hydrogen, its genesis, sources, and forms of occurrence, is also a source of fascination for the scientific world. This is a completely new direction for geological research, which, together with the signatories to the today’s agreement, we are going to develop as part of the Polish initiative for natural hydrogen. Perhaps we will soon be able to answer the most important question of the day: to what extent will hydrogen exploited in a similar way to natural gas cover domestic demand for this raw material?”

“Extracted naturally, this raw material has the potential to become one of the key energy sources supporting sustainable development and the fight against the climate crisis. In the face of the energy-climate transition, diversification of energy sources is essential, so the search for deposits of white hydrogen is a necessary and extremely important step. I am pleased that the Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences has the appropriate competencies to actively participate in this search. I believe that being part of such a prestigious consortium, thanks to our more than thirty years of experience in deposit documentation, economics, and geology, we can make a significant contribution to the development of knowledge and setting directions of activities that will enable the evaluation of natural energy resources and their diversification. This, in turn, will build prosumer confidence and ensure the country's energy security.”