H2Tech Market Data 2023 - 49

in metal hydrides and adsorbents technologies contribute
to driving down costs. H2
can be stored physically as
compressed gas, in geologic formations (salt taverns or
depleted natural gas fields), as a cryogenic liquid at/or
below -253°C or in materials using chemical H2
metal hydrides and adsorbents.
carriers,
The Air Liquide Spindletop facility in Texas (U.S.) is the
world's largest operational salt cavern H2
This facility can store approximately 30 d of H2
storage system.
output
from a nearby SMR facility and is intended to help manage
supply and demand for refining and chemicals. Another
salt cavern at the Intermountain Power Project in Delta,
Utah (the U.S.'s largest green H2
term H2 gas storage to be dispatched on demand. The
Australian company Carbon280 announced the prototype
project for Hydrilyte, which stores H2
without the need for
compression or cooling. Hydrilyte is a liquid containing
suspended metal dust that forms a stable chemical bond
with H2
and can safely retain it for decades. H2
storage will
require significant investment in the mid- and long term.
With the geographic limitations of geologic storage and
the high cost of material-based storage, it may often be
cheaper to import green H2
in some locations.
The long-distance transport of H2
FIG. 7. Allowable blend of H2
in the natural gas network
(by volume). Source: IRENA
TABLE 2. Selected properties of H2
Process and
technology maturity
Conversion
Tank storage
Transport
Reconversion
Supply chain integration
Hazards
Conversion and
reconversion
energy required
Technology scale-ups
needed
carriers
Liquid H2
Small-scale: High
Large-scale: Low
High
Ship: Low
Pipeline: High
Truck: High
High
Medium/High
Flammable, no smell
or flame visibility
Current: 25%-35%,
potential: 18%
Plant efficiency,
boil-off management
Ammonia
High
High
Ship: High
Pipeline: High
Truck: High
Medium
High
Flammable, acute toxicity,
precursor to air pollution,
corrosive
Conversion: 7%-18%,
reconversion: < 20%
Integration with flexible
electrolyzers, improved conversion
efficiency, H2
purification
LOHC
Medium
High
Ship: High
Pipeline: High
Truck: High
Medium
Medium
Toluene: flammable
moderate toxicity;
other LOHs can be safer
Current: 35%-40%,
potential: 25%
Utilization of conversion
heat, reconversion
efficiency
will require compression,
liquefaction for transport through high-pressure tube
trailers or incorporating H2
into larger molecules (carriers).
The most cost-effective approach will depend on several
factors, including distance, scale, geography and end
use (TABLE 2). For distances less than 1,500 km, pipeline
transport is the most cost-effective approach, while for
distances greater than 1,500 km, liquefaction or transport
via ammonia or liquid organic H2
carriers (LOHCs) is most
cost effective.
project) can provide longPipelines
will be the cheapest local distribution solution
in the long term. However, at the time of this publication,
most H2
liquefied H2
distribution was via trucks carrying compressed
since less than 8,000 km of H2
pipeline has
been installed globally-90% is within Europe and the U.S.
With the European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB) initiative,
Europe plans to install 39,700 km of H2
pipeline by 2040,
only 31% of which will be new pipelines. The rest (69%) will
be repurposed natural gas lines, which will substantially
reduce the cost of building H2
transport networks.
With 3 MM km of natural gas pipelines globally, there is
strong industry interest in using this network to boost the
development of H2
, injecting H2 in natural gas pipelines,
while circumventing the cost of any new distribution network.
Blending H2
presents challenges and requires careful
monitoring of the upper limit and tolerance for the percent
of H2
(FIG. 7) that can be injected into the natural gas grid,
depending on the end use.
H2
cost-effective FCEV deployment. Refueling infrastructure
must be close to main transportation and logistics centers.
For example, Europe has proposed a target for a H2
refueling station every 150 km to encourage H2
uptake. Furthermore, clean H2
H2
(requiring low-cost electricity) or from nearby production
centers. H2
the incumbent price of H2
is expensive to store and transport, and
depends on whether refueling
stations are available, how often they are used and how
much H2
also critical for the mass-market adoption of H2
is delivered per day. Refueling infrastructure is
in ground
transportation. According to data compiled in 2021, a
total of 730 H2
in the short term.
refueling stations were in operation globally
(FIG. 6), and Gulf Energy Information is tracking nearly
100 more H2
refueling stations that will be operational
infrastructure is also a critical component to
vehicle
must be supplied to the
refueling station either through onsite production
49
MARKET DATA 2023 | H2
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H2 TECHNOLOGIES
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H2Tech Market Data 2023

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