Hydrogen is increasingly recognized as one of the key technologies driving the energy transition and its potential reaches far beyond what many people realize.
To better understand the opportunities and future developments in this sector, our Hydrogen project manager Clemens Lantschner shares his perspective, addresses common misconceptions, and highlights the innovations that could shape the energy landscape over the next few years.
What is one insight you gained through your work on hydrogen projects that surprised you early in your career?
One important insight for me was that hydrogen projects are not only a technical challenge, but are also highly dependent on system integration, interface management, and operational experience. At the beginning, you often focus on individual components such as electrolyzers, compressors, storage systems, or dispensers.
In practice, however, the interaction between all components determines whether a system can be operated reliably, safely, and economically. What particularly surprised me was how important topics such as control engineering, maintenance concepts, availability, and coordination between suppliers are for the success of a project.
What aspect of hydrogen do you think is most underestimated– even within the energy sector?
The complexity of the overall infrastructure is often underestimated. Hydrogen is not simply an energy carrier that can be produced and then easily used. It needs to be safely compressed, stored, transported, cooled, measured, and dispensed.
Pressure levels, temperature, purity, safety concepts, and standards all play a very important role. Hydrogen refueling stations in particular show that the technical implementation is much more complex than it often appears from the outside. At the same time, the importance of practical operational experience in ensuring the long-term reliability of systems is also frequently underestimated.
Which technological developments do you think will have the greatest impact on the hydrogen sector over the next five to ten years – and why?
In my view, the scaling up of electrolyzers, more efficient compression technologies, and improved storage and refueling systems will have a major impact on the hydrogen sector.
The key challenge will be to produce, distribute, and supply hydrogen in larger quantities in an economically viable and reliable way. Digital monitoring, automated operation, and predictive maintenance will also become increasingly important, as they can improve system availability and reduce operating costs. In addition, standardized technical solutions and international standards will play a crucial role in enabling projects to be implemented faster, more safely, and more cost-effectively.