BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 17
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Existing European gas infrastructure needs modifications for hydrogen transport, Trend reports citing a plan for a dedicated hydrogen transport infrastructure prepared by a group of eleven European gas infrastructure companies.
“Hydrogen production could take place on-site close to where it is used. However, this is not always the most efficient supply option. For instance, in cases where hydrogen consumers are located away from large supply of renewable electricity or CCS locations and have access to existing gas grids, it will be cost-effective to receive hydrogen through gas grids. Existing gas infrastructure can be used, with some modifications, to safely transport hydrogen,” reads the research.
In addition, the companies believe that connection to a hydrogen network increases security of supply significantly.
“Pipeline transport is far cheaper compared to hydrogen transport via shipping, however the latter could become relevant for very long-distance transport of hydrogen (beyond several thousands of kilometres). Pipeline transport of hydrogen can either take the form of blending shares of hydrogen with methane or can be dedicated hydrogen transport. Blending makes sense when hydrogen volumes are small, especially during the 2020s,” reads the report.
When hydrogen volumes increase while transported volumes of natural gas decrease, dedicated hydrogen transport will emerge, initially connecting industrial clusters and later connecting regional and national hydrogen infrastructures, according to the plan.
All TSOs are studying and testing the repurposing of (parts of) their gas networks to enable dedicated hydrogen transport.
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