Italy is considering the possibility of cooperation with Rosatom in the hydrogen arena, said Italian аmbassador to Russia's Pasquale Terracciano.

"There are examples of significant cooperation in an area that is probably the most difficult problem for Russia, this is the decarbonisation of industrial production,” Terracciano said at an online conference in Moscow. “We know that Russia depends on oil and gas, but this does not mean that Russia cannot prepare for the future, when the problem of decarbonisation will be the most important. We are discussing with Rosatom the possibilities of cooperation in production using hydrogen."

According to the action plan for the implementation of the energy strategy of Russia until 2035, Rosatom was instructed to develop by 2023 the main provisions for ensuring safety in the production, storage and transportation of hydrogen at nuclear power plants. According to the plan, in 2024 Russia plans to export 0.2 million tonnes of hydrogen.

A pilot site for the creation of a bench test complex (SIC) for the production and handling of hydrogen will be created at the Kola NPP in Murmansk region). Rosatom plans to start producing hydrogen at this station in 2023.

"We must create a system for handling hydrogen on an industrial scale - receiving, compressing or liquefying and transporting. In 2023, we must put into operation a complex with electrolysis plants with a capacity of 1 megawatt, then it is planned to increase the capacity and productivity of the SIK up to 10 MW,” says the director of the station Vasily Omelchuk.

Earlier, Severstal’s head of decarbonisation projects Ilya Pavlov said in an interview with Kallanish that the hydrogen market in Russia probably will be developed by 2030.

Russia’s goal to occupy 20% of the hydrogen market and produce 1-2m t/year in a base case scenario - or even reach up to 7m t/y in 2035 - is an optimistic ambition due to the huge amounts of natural gas the country has for the production of hydrogen, he added.