H2Tech - Q2 2022 - 22

SPECIAL FOCUS HYDROGEN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
ed H2
backbone infrastructure is informed
by studies¹ commissioned by the Gas for
Climate consortium in 2019 and 2020,
which showed a large future role for H2
in
a decarbonized European energy system
and a gradually declining role for natural
gas, partially replaced by biomethane.
Natural gas remains important to ensure
security of supply during the 2020s
and 2030s, yet increasingly, gas infrastructure
could be freed-up for the transportation
of H2
as over time, H2 will become
a competitive commodity and energy
carrier with a key role in the future energy
system. Based on these insights, the EHB
initiative has created a possible and reasonable
scenario on how H2
infrastructure
in Europe may be created that would
be technically viable and achievable. The
EHB vision is based on the aforementioned
Gas for Climate studies, national
H2
well as an evaluation of announced projects
on H2
rope, partly through a series of H2
chain stakeholder interviews.
The EHB vision starts from the current
status quo yet assumes a high ambition
level for future climate change policies.
This article presents a vision rather
than a final proposal based on detailed
network planning. The timelines for the
scale up of H2
can vary by country, reflectinvestment
projects.
ing national energy policy discussions
and the status of H2
Therefore, while for some countries more
detailed information on planned H2
infrastructure
is already available, this information
is not yet available in other countries.
On certain routes, natural gas and H2
may
compete for existing pipeline infrastructure.
Across Europe, the speed with which
dedicated H2
transport infrastructure can
, as well as political
production and
and natural gas flows
infrabe
created depends on market conditions
for natural gas and H2
support to stimulate H2
demand and regulatory frameworks for
H2
transport.
Modeling of H2
strategies and planning processes, as
supply and demand across Eusupply
The
gradual creation of a dedicated
H2
infrastructure. The EHB vision pubnetworks
can develop, conlished
in 2020² showed that by 2030,
separated H2
sisting mainly of repurposed existing natural
gas pipelines. These initial stretches
would provide further insights on whether
and by when specific gas pipeline
stretches would become available for H2
transport and investments in H2
structure would be desirable. This is out
of scope of the present work.
include the proposed Dutch and German
national backbones, with additional
sections in Belgium and France. H2
networks
were also expected to emerge in
Denmark, Italy, Spain, Sweden, France
and Germany. The updated EHB shows
that additional repurposed stretches are
expected to emerge by 2030 in Hungary
and the UK, with new stretches emerging
in Finland. In this updated vision, some
of the countries already depicted in the
previous report show an accelerated deployment
of their H2
networks. For 2030,
this holds for Sweden, France and Italy.
Some stretches of the network are now
envisioned to emerge already by 2030,
representing updated insights.
In Hungary, the emergence of dedicatpipelines
by 2030 is attributable to
ed H2
rapidly changing natural gas flows, growing
H2
demand in the region and proximity
to abundant renewable energy sources.
The changing natural gas flows are due
to the new LNG terminal in Croatia, new
pipeline connections in the region and
a changing gas market. Simultaneously,
H2
infrastructure
supply regions (Ukraine
demand in the region is expected to
ramp up. A dedicated H2
connecting the region's customers to potential
green H2
and southern Hungary) will be beneficial
for the energy system at large.
In the UK, H2
could contribute sigExport/Import
H2 pipelines (repurposed)
H2 pipelines by conversion of existing natural gas pipelines (repurposed)
Newly constructed H2 pipelines
Subsea H2 pipelines (repurposed or new)
Countries within scope of study
Countries beyond scope of study
Potential H2 storage: salt cavern
Potential H2 storage: depleted field
Potential H2 storage: aquifer
City, for orientation purposes
Energy island for offshore H2 production
Dublin
Cork
Manchester
Hamburg
Amsterdam
London
Cologne
Frankfurt
Paris
Munich
Bordeaux
Bilbao
Marseille
Madrid
Barcelona
Valencia
Rome
Lyon
Milan
Venice
Ljubljana
Vienna
Bratislava
Budapest
Leipzig Prague
Krakow
Berlin
Warsaw
Gdansk
Edinburgh
Göteborg
Copenhagen
Stockholm
Helsinki
Tallinn
nificantly to meeting climate targets. By
2030, four of the country's five major
industrial clusters could be connected
through the phased repurposing of existing
gas pipelines to form an initial H2
backbone. Due to the sensitivities around
industrial cluster developments, National
Grid Gas does not hold any views on the
phased sequencing of which industrial
clusters in the UK are likely to connect
first as it relates to this study.
In Finland, the H2
develop near the first H2
network could
valleys in the
south, southwest and northwest. Here,
significant use of H2
network develops along the west
in industry is envisioned
in low-carbon fuel production,
chemicals, steel and mining, while also
the H2
coast, which has a large share of the onshore
wind potential. Additionally, the
H2
Tarifa
Almería
Palermo
Athens
European Hydrogen Backbone initiative 2021, supported by Guidehouse
FIG. 1. A mature EHB can be created by 2040.
22 Q2 2022 | H2-Tech.com
production potential is enhanced by
land and water availability, while the recovery
of waste heat from electrolyzers
could be a potential solution to decarbonize
district heating, which is widely
used in Finland.
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