Six more gas network operators have joined the European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB)—an industry initiative designed to drive the development of a hydrogen pipeline and storage system across the continent. The project—which is promoting the use of both existing and new pipelines for hydrogen— now has backing from 29 infrastructure operators across 27 countries.

The new members are Amber Grid (Lithuania), Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Conexus Baltic Grid (Latvia), Gassco (Norway), Plinacro (Croatia), and REN (Portugal).

The EHB has put the cost of developing a Europe-wide hydrogen network by 2040 at €43-81bn ($49-92bn), with repurposed gas lines accounting for 69pc of the capacity.

€43bn – Lowest estimated cost of developing Europe-wide hydrogen network

The EHB says its main focus in 2022 will be on techno-economic assessments of hydrogen supply corridors. 

Among the proposed corridors is a plan to develop a pipeline through central Europe, connecting demand centres in Germany with hydrogen production facilities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Elsewhere, network operators across Europe are investigating the feasibility of blending hydrogen into the gas network and potentially moving to 100pc hydrogen in some regions.

Ready to blend

The UK’s network of gas pipes can be ready to deliver 20pc hydrogen to homes and businesses from 2023, according to a Hydrogen Blending Plan released last week by gas industry body the Energy Networks Association.

Hungarian gas network operator FGSZ this week commissioned risk management company DNV to assess the viability of switching to up to 100pc hydrogen in its pipeline system.

The conversion of gas storage sites is also under investigation amid expectations of seasonal swings in hydrogen demand.

UK utility SSE and Norway’s Equinor this week awarded two major contracts for work on a proposed hydrogen storage facility at Aldbrough in East Yorkshire. The companies propose to store clean hydrogen either in an existing natural gas storage facility or in a new dedicated hydrogen facility.

The plant could be in operation by early 2028, with an initial expected capacity of at least 320GWh—enough to power more than 860 hydrogen buses a year, according to SSE.

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Author: Stuart Penson