H2Tech - Q2 2022 - 24

SPECIAL FOCUS HYDROGEN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
renewable sources, such as offshore wind
in the north and solar PV in the south.
In many parts of Europe, gas pipelines
can be repurposed to H2
in an affordable
manner. However, in Sweden, Finland
and the Baltic states, little gas infrastructure
exists currently. A significant new H2
infrastructure is proposed for these countries,
which reflects the ambitious plans
to use H2
in heavy industry in Sweden
network can enable more exand
Finland. In addition, development
of this H2
tensive utilization of clean energy sources
and provide important connections between
H2
production and demand in the
EU. The network will also support the
increased need to balance the future decarbonized
energy system. The possible
nuclear phase out in Sweden and ambitious
national targets to reach climate
neutrality by 2045 in Sweden and already
by 2035 in Finland require a massive
scaleup of variable renewable electricity.
Because energy demand is centered in
the southern parts of Finland and Sweden,
large amounts of energy would need
to be transported from north to south. In
combination with electricity transmission,
H2
transport cost effectively. Moreover, next
to transporting energy from north to
south, H2
from the Nordics could eventuinfrastructure
and inally
also be exported into the rest of Europe
using the H2
terconnections. This development would
benefit from excellent onshore wind
conditions along the coast of the Gulf of
Bothnia and from the Baltic sea offshore
wind potential. Land and water availability
will enable significant development of
onshore wind projects in these countries.
In the Baltic Sea, in the 2030s, the deployment
of offshore wind may already
reach a significant share of its 93 GW
potential,⁵ which will create a need for
green H2
to integrate and store the large
amounts of intermittent wind energy. In
the three Baltic states, this would create
an oversupply of renewable energy, especially
during windy periods. For example,
in Estonia, renewable energy production
during windy periods could reach four
times its projected energy demand. By
connecting Baltic energy markets with
the rest of Europe, H2
could be exported
to Central and Eastern Europe. The Baltic
sea region and offshore wind also play important
roles in Germany's H2
strategy.⁶
In the UK, all five industrial clusters
24 Q2 2022 | H2-Tech.com
could be connected by 2035, resulting in
a matured national backbone. In Ireland,
a H2
valley could emerge in the south
around the coastal city of Cork, where H2
could also be imported by ship.
By 2040, a pan-European
dedicated H2
transport
infrastructure can
be envisaged with a
total length of around
39,700 km, consisting
of 69% repurposed existing
infrastructure and 31%
of new H2
pipelines.
By 2035, the H2 network development
pipelines can provide this energy
would allow for the route from Italy, and
beyond that North Africa, to expand its
reach all the way into northwestern and
southeastern Europe. For the latter, a
new interconnection from Italy to Slovenia
would be used, while Hungary's network
will enable transport further into
southeast Europe. Possible imports into
Germany are enabled by the repurposed
interconnection between Italy and Austria
and large diameter repurposed pipelines
through Austria, Slovakia and the
Czech Republic. Slovakia and the Czech
Republic could become an important H2
hub as H2
from the north, south and east
could flow through the country. The repurposing
could solely happen if natural
gas flows were to drop significantly, freeing
up one of the parallel lines across Italy,
Austria, Slovakia and Czech Republic,
while still allowing natural gas transport
over this route to the extent needed.
The situation in Germany shows a
much more dynamic picture in 2035
compared to the 2020 EHB paper. As natural
gas and H2
may very well be competing
for the same pipeline infrastructure, it
is unclear whether some of the pipelines
will be converted to H2
. An example is
the newly suggested route connecting the
Ruhrgebiet/Cologne area to the southern
parts of Germany. Whether all suggested
pipelines will be converted to H2
or remain
natural gas pipelines largely depends
on political support for the scaleup of H2
and the general market developments of
H2
and natural gas respectively.
Mature infrastructure stretching towards
all directions by 2040. By 2040, a
pan-European dedicated H2
transport infrastructure
can be envisaged with a total
length of around 39,700 km, consisting of
69% repurposed existing infrastructure
and 31% of new H2
pipelines.
As shown in FIG. 1, the network could
stretch from Ireland to Hungary and from
Spain to the Nordic countries, connecting
different regions with different renewable
energy production profiles, providing
a cost-effective way to transport large
amounts of renewable energy to demand
centers and connections to regions with
storage capacity. The network would also
enable pipeline imports from Europe's
eastern and southern neighbors, as well as
imports of liquid H2
from other continents
via Europe's main harbors. This would provide
security of supply and enable the creation
of a liquid, European market for H2
By 2040, two additional interconnec.
tions
between Spain and France can increase
the security of supply and flexibility
in the large, expected flows of H2
from
Spain and possibly North Africa into the
rest of Europe.
In the North Sea, approximately 180
GW of offshore wind power capacity can
be installed by 2050. Model studies⁷ have
shown that its integration in the northwest
European energy system would
require a smart combination of electricity
and H2
infrastructure, making use of
80 GW-90 GW of electrolyzers in coastal
regions. Electricity and gas TSOs in Denmark,
Germany and the Netherlands are
already actively collaborating on planning
a hub-and-spoke offshore network
of energy hubs in an internationally coordinated
rollout. Several Memorandum
of Understandings (MoUs) and Letter of
Intents (LoIs) between governments in
the region together with potential connections
to the UK and Norway, extensive
offshore H2
acting as an international H2
pipelines and energy hubs
network in
the North Sea, can be envisioned in the
late 2030s, connecting the countries bordering
the North Sea.
Analysis by Energinet confirmed the
to integrate large amounts
need for H2
of offshore wind energy by showing that
effective utilization of more than 10 GW
of additional offshore wind requires up
to 5 GW-8 GW of electrolysis by 2035.8
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