Developing continent-wide hydrogen transport infrastructure would allow Europe to extract the most economic benefit from hydrogen, according to a study carried out by the European Commission.

The study modelled three scenarios with differing levels of cross-border capacity deployment by 2030.

When cross-border infrastructure is available, hydrogen can be used in a cost-optimal manner because supply can be matched more efficiently with demand, it found.

“By 2030, cross-border integration facilitates regional cooperation and contributes to a substantial reduction in hydrogen production cost by reallocating renewable electricity and hydrogen production to the most favourable sites,” says the report.

In the optimal scenario, 27GW of new hydrogen pipeline capacity and 44GW of repurposed cross-border pipeline capacity are commissioned. A hydrogen backbone is built from Spain to Italy and hydrogen flows occur on three main routes: from Spain to France and Germany; from Greece to Italy and Eastern Europe; and from Sweden to Germany via Denmark and the Baltics via Finland.

Under the same scenario storage requirements are reduced as cross-border connections can meet part of the flexibility needs and ensure the market is balanced.

27 GW – New pipeline capacity deployed under optimised scenario

The total cost of hydrogen—a measure of the costs of transport and distribution as well as production—falls from €4.22/kg ($4.77/kg) under the business-as-usual scenario to €3.30/kg under the optimal scenario.

Countries that do not invest in hydrogen storage may face a situation where hydrogen demand can only be met based on the consumption of more expensive and carbon-intensive electricity, according to the report.

The average systemwide carbon intensity decreases from 0.74kg CO₂ per kg of hydrogen produced under the business-as-usual scenario to 0.35kg CO₂ per kg of hydrogen produced under the optimised scenario.

The analysis further reveals that repurposing of existing gas pipelines represents a cost-efficient option to reduce the need for additional pipelines.

National electrolyser targets will help with the creation of a hydrogen economy, but a co-ordinated European production planning approach will significantly reduce the overall system costs, the report found.

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Author: Tom Young