Kassel/Brussels (energate) - The transmission system operators Gascade and Fluxys see great potential for the production of green hydrogen in the North Sea. According to a DNV study commissioned by the two companies, up to 300 TWh or 9 million tonnes of hydrogen could be produced with electricity from offshore wind farms in the North Sea in 2050. "This would be a significant contribution to reducing dependence on energy imports," said Gascade managing director Ulrich Benterbusch at the presentation of the study results. Depending on the demand analysis, the amount would be sufficient to cover between 13 and 25 per cent of European hydrogen demand in 2050.
In the
DNV study 'Specification of a European Offshore Hydrogen Backbone', the authors compare five different value chains in which production, transport and conversion take place either onshore or offshore. They conclude that offshore hydrogen production connected by pipeline is cheaper than onshore production. This is mainly due to the high utilisation of the electrolysis, which can be achieved offshore with wind power, explained Claas Hülsen, one of the study authors.
Offshore hydrogen is worthwhile for long distances
The report classifies offshore production and pipeline transport of hydrogen as an attractive option especially for wind farms that are more than 100 kilometres from the mainland. Large pipelines could bundle the production of several wind farms and would thus be cheaper than electricity transmission. For hydrogen from wind farms 150 kilometres away, the study calculates that hydrogen production costs could be 4.59 €/kg in 2030, and 3.24 €/kg by 2050. Bringing the electricity onshore via DC cable and producing hydrogen onshore, on the other hand, would be slightly more expensive at 4.60 €/kg in 2030 and 3.50 €/kg. This slight price advantage begins to reverse when the distance falls below about 125 kilometres. Here, electricity transmission then has an advantage.
With regard to the transport infrastructure, a possible European offshore hydrogen backbone, the study comes to a positive conclusion, at least for the North Sea. Here, the potential of offshore wind energy at a distance of more than 100 kilometres from the coast is 89 GW. These quantities could be used to produce 300 TWh of hydrogen. The situation is worse in the Baltic Sea, where fewer production areas are 100 kilometres or more from the coast. Nevertheless, the study sees potential for a hydrogen backbone here as well, in case that Sweden and Finland decide to produce hydrogen on a large scale and export it to Central Europe. Here, a joint transport infrastructure would be more economical than two separate ones.
Up to 52 billion euros for pipelines and underground storage facilities
As far as the costs of pipeline construction in the North Sea are concerned, the DNV authors calculate investments of 35 to 52 billion euros for about 4,200 kilometres of pipelines and underground storage. To optimise the supply chain and increase the flexibility of the system, the study suggests storing up to 30 per cent of the hydrogen produced in salt caverns. The costs for the pipeline portion would be 15 to 22 billion euros, the storage costs 20 to 30 billion euros. The transport system would thus account for about 10 per cent of the total costs of hydrogen produced offshore. The hydrogen system costs would then be in the range of 4.69 to 4.97 €/kg. The study estimates the investment costs for the Baltic Sea backbone at 7.2 to 10 billion euros.
Early international coordination important
With the
Esbjerg Declaration, the North Sea riparians Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark agreed on a stronger expansion of offshore wind power in 2022 and also took up offshore hydrogen production. Before the next meeting of the countries in Ostend, Belgium, at the end of April, the grid operators want to give a corresponding impulse with their study, explained Gascade managing director Benterbusch: "The earlier and more intensively the littoral states get together and plan, the better it is for everyone." The development of an offshore backbone needs above all international coordination and clear production targets for offshore hydrogen.
Together, Gascade and Fluxys are already planning the construction of a pipeline for the transport of hydrogen produced offshore in the '
AquaDuctus' project. With the
Bornholm-Lubmin interconnector, Gascade is pursuing a pipeline project for hydrogen in the Baltic Sea together with the Danish Energinet. /tc
