"It would have been difficult for hydrogen energy to get such a big boost in Russia without the challenge of energy consumers, especially in Europe," said Alexander Kurdin, an expert at the Analysis Center of the Government of the Russian Federation. . In the past two years, Russia, an oil and gas resource country, has frequently released strategies and plans to promote hydrogen energy development. In addition to the concept of hydrogen energy development just released in June and October last year, Russia has also released new versions of the "Energy Strategy before 2035" and the "Roadmap for hydrogen energy Development between 2020 and 2024." Hydrogen energy is considered to be one of the most important development directions in the energy industry. Under the leadership of Gazprom and Rosatom, there are plans to establish an integrated hydrogen industry in Russia by 2024. Stsenko, professor of the Russian School of Economics, also believes that the acceleration of the development of hydrogen energy in Russia is mainly influenced by the transformation of the consumer market. The EU is Russia's largest energy consumer market and the most active international participant in the low-carbon transition.

In 2019 and 2020, the EU published the European Green Deal and the European Hydrogen Strategy, in which hydrogen energy is seen as an important means to achieve net zero emissions, and plans to promote the production, transport and consumption of hydrogen energy in order to reduce the demand for natural gas in Europe. As Mr Mishustin said at the business conference, developing hydrogen could reduce the risk of Russia losing access to the energy market. Russia's dependence on oil and gas exports is hard to sustain amid the global energy transition. By using natural gas to produce hydrogen, Russia has become the world's leading exporter of hydrogen energy. Russia's main concern is relying on hydrogen to secure its existing oil and gas export revenues. "Europe will eventually make the transition to hydrogen energy, and the sooner Russia participates in the process, the more likely it is to generate economic returns," Szecchenko said. . Anatoli Chubais, the Russian president's special envoy for sustainable development, predicted that Russian hydrogen exports to the EU could generate at least $20 billion to $30 billion by 2030. The EU's recent climate and energy policies have strengthened Russia's resolve to export low-carbon energy such as hydrogen. In July, the European Commission proposed a climate energy package that includes mechanisms to regulate carbon dioxide limits to encourage EU trading partners to reduce the carbon dioxide intensity, or carbon footprint, of their exports, and would impose a carbon dioxide emission charge on product-exporting countries in 2026. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that Russia will lose $3.1 billion to $3.8 billion a year if the tax is $30 per ton of carbon dioxide.

Russia has many advantages in developing hydrogen energy In terms of hydrogen energy development, Russia is ambitious and determined to become a leader in the global hydrogen energy market, and has set itself the goal of having a 20% share of the global hydrogen energy by 2030. Russia's supply of hydrogen is estimated to reach 15 million to 50 million tons by mid-century. Alexander Kurdin says the EU has proposed a mechanism to regulate the CO2 border in order to shift the financing pressure for renewable energy development to oil and gas exporting countries. In view of Russia's resources and technological base, Russia has proposed a blue hydrogen development program (hydrogen from natural gas). In developing hydrogen energy, Russia has many advantages, including resources, infrastructure and market. First, Russia has abundant natural gas reserves and low hydrogen production costs. According to the development concept, blue hydrogen will become a priority for hydrogen production in Russia by 2035. According to the International Energy Agency, green hydrogen is produced at $2.70 per kilogram, while blue hydrogen costs just $1.60 per kilogram. Second, Russia has built a network of gas pipelines. The hydrogen industry is similar to the natural gas industry. Russia has more than 170,000 km of gas pipelines, about 700,000 km of distribution pipelines and more than 20 underground gas storage facilities. It has one of the most developed natural gas pipelines in the world. In the future, Russia will export tens of millions of tons of hydrogen to Europe and Asia through long-distance gas pipelines, and the hydrogen mixing section of the Nord Stream 2 line under construction could reach 70 percent. After all, Russia has a market advantage. Europe and Asia are the world's most important export markets for hydrogen. Proximity to Asia and Europe and mature gas trade relationships give Russia an advantage in exporting hydrogen energy to both markets. Russia has also proposed setting up three production clusters in the northwestern, eastern and Arctic regions to reach target markets. The eastern cluster is oriented towards Asia and the northwestern cluster towards Europe, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of export-oriented companies.