In times of growing pressure to decarbonize the economy, the Polish concern Orlen is intensifying its efforts to develop hydrogen technologies. Recently signed agreements with three Finnish companies – ABO Energy Suomi, Nordic Ren-Gas and VolagHy Kuopio SPV – aim to secure the supply of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives, which will contribute to building a European hydrogen ecosystem.
The cooperation covers the development of production, logistics and warehousing, with an emphasis on the decarbonization of industry and transport. Finnish partners are developing advanced projects: ABO Energy Suomi is planning installations with a capacity of up to 100,000. tons of hydrogen per year in Oulu and Nivala, reaching full capacity in 2035; Nordic Ren-Gas is building e-methane plants using renewable hydrogen and biogenic CO2, targeting 2.7 TWh per year by 2035; while VolagHy Kuopio SPV focuses on synthetic fuels, such as eSAF, with production of 50,000. tonnes per year from 2031 and plans to expand to five plants in the Nordic region by 2040.
The “Hydrogen Program” was launched several years ago
Orlen intends to use its salt caverns for large-scale hydrogen storage, which will ensure stable supplies to Polish refineries and chemical plants. This is a continuation of previous cooperation with P2X Solutions Oy, which is developing an installation in Harjavalta with a capacity of up to 1 GW by 2035. Minister Wojciech Balczun emphasizes that the initiative not only diversifies energy sources, but also enables the construction of over 100 hydrogen refueling stations in Poland, strengthening energy security.
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However, it is worth knowing that there are cars on the road that use hydrogen as fuel in two completely different ways. The concepts are as different as – literally – combustion engines and electric engines.
Hydrogen installation
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Hydrogen combustion engine
Combustion engines have been known to us for many decades. Starting from diesel engines to spark-ignition engines powered by gasoline, LPG or CNG. But what if instead of gasoline or gas, a hydrogen tank was installed in the car? Several companies around the world have developed spark-ignition internal combustion engines based on hydrogen. This includes: Toyota, Deutz and Aquarius Engines.
As in the case of other gas fuel engines, whether LPG or CNG, hydrogen must also be kept in a tank under high pressure. It is then injected into the engine compartment, where an explosion occurs and, as a result of expansion, the piston is pushed away, turning the crankshaft and generating rotational motion, which is then – in short – transmitted to the wheels.
Hydrogen combustion engine – Toyota
Why would we replace gasoline with hydrogen in this case? As Toyota's first tests indicated, the engine (in this case a three-cylinder unit with a capacity of 1.6 l) runs quieter and has less vibration due to hydrogen combustion. The impact on the environment is also a huge advantage. Similarly to the case of natural gas (CNG), known, among others, our home stoves do not emit any toxic or environmentally polluting substances, including carbon dioxide, as a result of hydrogen combustion. In theory, the result of the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen is only… water. It is a much cleaner chemical compound that may be released from the exhaust pipes of many cars around the world in a few years.
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Moreover, some diesel engines can be adapted to burn hydrogen, including: in the case of huge machines used in diamond mining in South Africa.
Hydrogen electric engine
Electric cars have been known to humanity even longer than their combustion counterparts. It is also a type of vehicle called “ecological”, but for many people its environmental friendliness raises a lot of doubts. Mainly because of batteries, which have become an indispensable element of electric cars.
Battery production is not cheap and – along with disposal – it also leaves a carbon footprint. Batteries, as we mentioned earlier, are still the Achilles heel of electricians, which is why many people have not yet decided on such a solution. Batteries are heavy, pose a great threat in the event of a car fire, and charging them can take hours. If only it were possible to eliminate them from an electric car…
Toyota Mirai – hydrogen engine
Well, it's possible! And in at least several ways. There are less effective ones, such as supplying energy from solar panels on the roof of the vehicle. Due to their low efficiency, they are not used commercially, but only as part of scientific projects of ultra-light vehicles. The second, much more effective and widely used solution is: generating electricity from fuel cells – we do not store the energy that drives the electric motor in batteries, but we generate it on an ongoing basis from the fuel we have in the tank. And hydrogen is great in this role. How does it work?
The operating principle of fuel cells was developed as early as 1838. by the German-Swiss chemist Christian Friedrich Schönbein. The cell is composed of two electrodes – a cathode and an anode – separated by an electrolyte or an electrolytic membrane. Typically, the electrodes take the form of carburized paper coated with platinum as a reaction catalyst.
Temporarily unpopular, hydrogen cars are supposed to be the future of the automotive industry
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Scharfsinn / Shutterstock
After hydrogen is supplied to the cell, it oxidizes and therefore gives up electrons, which in turn produces hydrogen cations. At the cathode, oxygen reacts with electrons, reducing itself to oxygen anions. The membrane inside allows protons to flow from the anode to the cathode, while blocking other ions, including the formed oxygen anions. Once the hydrogen cations reach the cathode, they react with these oxide anions to produce water, and the electrons from the anode reach the cathode through the electrical circuit, producing energy.
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In short – the cell splits hydrogen into cations and anions. The former pass freely through the links, but the latter have to look for a way around. In this case, it runs through a circuit where voltage is created.
However, hydrogen cells were not widely used until the 1960s they became part of NASA spacecraft, including Gemini 5 and the Apollo program. They not only used them to generate electricity in space, but also used a side effect – drinking water created in the process of generating electricity.
Toyota Mirai
The advantages of this solution are at least as many as in battery electric cars, and in addition there are all the advantages associated with the lack of batteries. Moreover, the hydrogen tank is very light. Over 120 liters of compressed hydrogen can weigh (depending on the pressure) up to approx. 5 kg.
Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages. The biggest one – apart from the availability and price of hydrogen – is the operating temperature. And although low-temperature cells are currently used, operating at temperatures ranging from several dozen to 250 degrees Celsius, it is always necessary to “warm up” the engine before starting it. This means you have to wait from a few to a dozen or so seconds before starting, depending on the generation and model of the hydrogen fuel cell engine. Fortunately, newer models are reducing these requirements, so there are many indications that soon engines with hydrogen cells will start “on the spot”.
Costs of hydrogen cars and refueling in Poland
In 2026, hydrogen cars remain a niche on the Polish market, with low sales (in the first half of 2024, only 5,621 units globally, a decline of 34% y/y), Toyota Mirai at base prices fluctuates around PLN 310,000-320,000. PLN, Hyundai Nexo similarly. Globally, sales of these cars are still marginal and fluctuate around less than 10,000. pieces.
Silesia received new hydrogen buses
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Scharfsinn / Shutterstock
The cost of refueling hydrogen in Poland is currently around PLN 60-90 per kg, depending on the station. Assuming consumption of 1 kg per 100 km, the cost of driving 100 km is approximately PLN 60 – significantly more than in the case of traditional fuels. Comparing this to other drives:
- Gas: approx. PLN 35–40 (using 6–7 liters per 100 km).
- Diesel (ON): approx. PLN 30-45 (using 5-6 liters per 100 km).
- LPG: approx. PLN 22-26 (using 7-8 liters per 100 km).
- Hydrogen: approx. PLN 60 per 100 km.
Despite higher costs, hydrogen offers ecological benefits, and the development of infrastructure (planned 100 stations) may reduce prices in the future. For companies, tax incentives promote hydrogen as an investment in sustainable transport.
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The biggest problem is still the cost of producing hydrogen. We can obtain it as waste in the production of other materials, but in general, the energy needed to produce hydrogen is much greater than that needed to charge an electric car. So while it is possible to produce hydrogen from water vapor in the air, using photovoltaics and free solar energy, the electricity used to produce one tank can charge several electric cars.
