Study: Offshore reuse potential for existing gas infrastructure in a hydrogen supply chain
>> Download the study EBN WP1 – Final Report.
This study assesses cost profiles of various transportation modes of bringing green hydrogen produced offshore in the Netherlands Continental Shelf (North Sea) to shore (transport options of so-called blue hydrogen were not included in the study). The aim was to identify cost differentials and to explain which techno-economic cost parameter values are the most critical ones for each transport mode. The model developed for this purpose typically allows to compare transport costs under varying transport capacities and distances.
In order to compare the various scenarios’ results in a long-term perspective, a 2060 time horizon (starting in 2020) was set with an intermediate step in 2040. Based on the literature, offshore green hydrogen production on the Netherlands Continental Shelf (0.4 GW in 2020) was assumed to amount to 2 GW from 2030 onwards and 5.4 GW from 2050 till 2060.
As far as the admixing transport modes is concerned, it could be concluded that even in a very optimistic scenario of the Netherlands’ North Sea wind power development the risk of surpassing the assumed admixing maximum allowed limit of 15 vol% turned out to be very small, at least until 2040. Whether risks of violating this threshold may grow after 2040 obviously also depends on the future policy regime towards max. offshore admixing.
More in general, sensitivity analysis on cost components showed that compressor costs were among the most decisive cost factors in all scenarios, both if existing infrastructure was reused (cost share 14% on average), or in cases of new dedicated pipelines (shares between 37 and 40%). New, more efficient hydrogen compressor or (high-pressure) electrolyzer technology may therefore have a serious downward transport cost impact.
>> Download the study EBN WP1 – Final Report.
