Sufficiency of water resources for hydrogen production in Ukraine was the topic of a discussion organized by the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine and the Energy Club with authorities, research institutions and associations.

"I want to draw your attention to the fact that there are two polar points of view. The first is that the state of water resources is not a critical issue for hydrogen production. Another one is that Ukraine belongs to countries with poor water resources. Therefore, we must take into account distribution, geography, quality of water resources. After all, it directly affects ability and cost of hydrogen production", said Valerii Bezus - Head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine.

When planning promising industries that rely on water resources, it is necessary to take into account not only technological and economic aspects, but also socio-political. We are talking about the priority of water for the needs of society because in some regions the shortage of drinking water is a reality or a short-term prospect.

At the same time, thanks to hydrogen generation projects, a synergistic effect can be achieved in addressing water resources issues.

"If we are building a public-private partnership and need to solve, for example, the problem of mine water treatment, it is advisable to attract businesses that plan to produce hydrogen. In this case, water purification will be needed not only in terms of environmental but also technological issues. We have a synergistic effect in this case", the Chairman explained.

The representatives of Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, State Water Resources Agency, State Geologic and Subsoil Survey of Ukraine, Ukrhydroenergo, the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, the Institute of Water Problems and Land Reclamation of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Renewable Energy Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, «Ukrvodokanalekologiya» Association took an active part in the discussion.

The discussion revolved around the state of water resources in the country, the priority of their use and sufficiency for "green" hydrogen production.

According to the representative of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, Ukraine belongs to the countries with low water supply. Water resources are unevenly distributed across the country.

At the same time, the Ukrhydroenergo specialists reported on studying the possibility of installing 1 MW of  green hydrogen production at the Dnieper HPP.

Stepan Kudrya, Director of the Renewable Energy Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, gave specific calculations of the water volume for the needs of hydrogen generation.

The State Water Resources Agency, in turn, recommends the use of mining water, seawater and the Danube's potential for hydrogen energy.

In general, the participants agreed that creating new industry - the hydrogen economy - should be balanced, taking into account all aspects of water resources in the country, environmental requirements and needs of society.

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