H2Tech - Q2 2022 - 21

SPECIAL FOCUS: HYDROGEN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Extending the European H2
Backbone:
A European H2 infrastructure vision
covering 21 countries
J. JENS, A. WANG, K. LEUN, D. PETERS and M. BUSEMAN, Guidhouse, Utrecht, Netherlands
In 2020, eleven gas infrastructure
companies published a vision of a European
Hydrogen Backbone (EHB), a
dedicated H2
pipeline transport network
spanning 10 European countries. That
report sparked a debate on the role that
a H2
in
pipenetwork
can play in the future European
energy system. The role of H2
enabling climate neutrality is widely acknowledged,
as is the need for H2
line transport. This article presents an
updated and extended EHB vision, now
involving 23 gas infrastructure companies
from 21 countries. It presents updated H2
infrastructure maps for 2030, 2035 and
2040, with a dedicated H2
pipeline transport
network largely based on repurposed
existing gas infrastructure.
By 2030, the EHB could consist of an
initial 11,600-km pipeline network, connecting
emerging H2
valleys. The H2
infrastructure
can then grow to become a
pan-European network, with a length of
39,700 km by 2040 (FIG. 1). Further network
development can be expected after
2040. In addition, the maps show possible
additional routes that could emerge,
including potential offshore interconnectors
and pipelines in regions outside the
area where the EHB members are active.
The proposed expanded pan-European
H2
backbone can further support the
integration of renewable and clean energy
sources in regions that were not yet
included in the initial EHB plan, as published
in 2020. These include Finland,
Estonia, large parts of central and eastern
Europe, Greece, Ireland, and the UK.
The EHB creates an opportunity to
accelerate decarbonization of the energy
and industrial sectors, while ensuring
energy system resilience, increased energy
independence and security of supply
across Europe. Such a vision can be
achieved in a cost-effective manner, but it
requires close collaboration between EU
member states and neighboring countries
and a stable, supportive and adaptive
regulatory framework.
In addition to maps showing the possible
future topology of H2
infrastructure,
this article also provides an updated breakdown
of repurposed vs. new pipelines and
estimates of total investment costs up to
2040. As proposed in this article, the
39,700-km EHB for 2040 requires an estimated
total investment of €43 B-€81 B
($47 B-$88.5 B), based on using 69% of
repurposed natural gas pipelines and 31%
new pipeline stretches. This cost is relatively
limited in the overall context of the
European energy transition.
The investment per km of pipeline is
lower vs. the network investment costs as
estimated in the initial EHB plan. While
the initial plan only included cost estimates
for pipelines with a diameter of
48 in., this update considers that a large
part of today's natural gas infrastructure
and of tomorrow's H2
infrastructure
consists of smaller 24-in. or 36-in.
pipelines. Smaller pipelines are cheaper
to repurpose, leading to lower total investment
costs. However, the operating
costs to transport H2
over 1,000 km are
higher for smaller diameter pipelines vs.
bigger diameter pipelines, which raises
the levelized transportation costs for
the entire EHB to €0.11/kg-€0.21/kg
($0.12/kg-$.023/kg) of H2
. This is slightly
higher than 2020's estimate of €0.09-
€0.17 ($0.10-$0.19) but confirms that
the EHB is an attractive and cost-effective
option for long-distance transportation
of H2
, considering an estimated
future production cost of €1/kg-€2/kg
($1.09/kg-$2.19/kg) of H2
.
The proposed infrastructure pathway
up to 2040 shows the vision of 23 European
gas transmission system operators
(TSOs), based on national analyses of
availability of existing natural gas infrastructure,
future natural gas market developments
and future H2
market developments.
Nonetheless, it is important to note
that the eventual infrastructure solution
will be highly dependent on future supply
and demand dynamics of the integrated
energy system, including natural gas, H2
,
electricity and heat. The real development
of H2
supply and demand and the increasing
integration of the energy system may
lead to alternative or additional routes vs.
the ones described in this article, and the
timeline of some of the 2030, 2035 and
2040 proposed routes may be shifted forward
or backward in time.
EHB initiative. The EHB initiative is a
group of European gas TSOs that have
drafted a proposal for a dedicated H2
pipeline
infrastructure, to a large extent based
on repurposed natural gas pipelines. The
initiative published a vision paper in July
2020, with maps covering nine EU member
states plus Switzerland, home to the
eleven TSOs participating at that time.
Since then, the EHB initiative has grown
to 23 European gas TSOs, with gas networks
covering 19 EU member states plus
the UK and Switzerland. This article contains
a geographically extended vision for
a dedicated H2
infrastructure stretching
across these 21 European countries.
This updated EHB represents a vision
of the growing initiative, with extended
H2
infrastructure maps for 2030, 2035
storand
2040. As in the last report, this article
includes the locations of possible H2
age locations. The amount of storage that
would be required in the future depends
on several factors and is not further analyzed
in this article. Neither does this work
analyze the cost of H2
storage. The suggested
pathway for the creation of dedicatH2Tech
| Q2 2022 21
H2Tech - Q2 2022

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