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Reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to zero by 2025. This is the ambitious goal of the Russian Far East province of Sakhalin. Its Minister for Investment Vasily Grudev explained the plans to decision-makers of German industry in a video conference of “ThinkTank-H2”.

11/24/2021 – The Government of Sakhalin, what does it want: to export hydrogen or to import hydrogen know-how? “Both”, says M Vasily Grudev, Minister of Investment Policy of the Sakhalinskaya Oblast (Russian Federation), in the video link, connecting participants across 16 time zones – from Russia’s Far East to Europe and California. Only recently, the government of the Russian Federation in Moscow decided the Sakhalinskaya Oblast to become a pilot scheme for exploration and use of the country’s immense hydrogen reserves on the one hand and the other raw materials that can be used for this purpose on the other.

According to M Grudev, the island east of the Russian city of Vladivostok and north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido already successfully exploits the mineral resources under the island and offshore in the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan. Only recently, the oblast officially opened its first deep-sea port of Korsakov. It is intended to handle the transports necessary for the use of hydrogen products.

“ThinkTank-H2”, Stuttgart, has concluded a preliminary agreement (Memorandum of Understanding – MoU) with the government of the Sakhalinskaya Oblast for the establishment of a PPP (Public Private Partnership). The agreement will promote the development of a low-carbon economy in Sakhalin Oblast.

“ThinkTank-H2” will mainly use its international contacts with science, politics, administrations, and investors to support the Sakhalin Oblast in the transformation from a fossil-based to a CO2-neutral economy by 2025 based on a comprehensive use of hydrogen (H2).

In the video conference, Grudev highlighted the establishment of acompetence centre as a priority objective and the first reflection of the agreement with “ThinkTank-H2”. From 2022 on, it is expected to assist all state and private organisations in Sakhalin in the evaluation of their project ideas and proposals with advice and technical expertise in the selection of hydrogen projects.

M Lutz Bungeroth, Vice-President of “ThinkTank H2”, as project manager representing it in the advisory board of the Competence Center: “The participants of this presentation of the plans for the use of hydrogen with Sakhalin got a first important impression of the possibilities of cooperation with the Sakhalin Oblast. We are confident that further talks will soon lead to
concrete results. ”

Background: Russia intends to take a leading position in the energy transition. In addition to oil, gas, and nuclear power, it wants to sell more hydrogen on the world market in the future. To this end, the company relies on state-of-the-art technologies and new projects. Sakhalin is to become a test field for the production of hydrogen.

“ThinkTank-H2” is independent and open to technology. It wants to provide guidance in the jungle of interests and arguments around the topic of hydrogen. To this end, it wants to initiate and support concrete projects for the introduction of hydrogen in all sectors. As an “honest broker”, it wants to mediate between the different interests. Members are international high-ranking representatives from research, business, science, and politics.

Further information and images can be found at https://thinktank-h2.org.