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A Vision of the Future: A Map of Europe’s Hydrogen Infrastructure – Politico.
Energy industry stakeholders worked together to visualize, in the form of an interactive map, an overview of the hydrogen infrastructure projects that will transform the European energy system in the years to come.
The current European energy crisis and meeting the ambitious targets set in the REPoverEU plan clearly present challenges, making the accelerated introduction of renewable gases increasingly important. Record temperatures across Europe in the summer of 2022 were a reminder of the urgent need to move away from Europe’s reliance on fossil fuels.
The hydrogen market is developing rapidly and establishing an appropriate regulatory framework is now a priority. In particular, hydrogen was presented as a possible solution for a faster and more robust energy transition in Europe.
Clearly, policy makers have an important role to play in this context. As part of the REPoverEU plan, the European Commission established the Hydrogen Accelerator, an initiative with the goal of 10 million tons of imported renewable hydrogen and 10 million tons of domestic (EU) produced renewable hydrogen by 2030.
In September 2022, the Commission approved €5.2 billion of EU public funding for hydrogen projects, through the IPCEI Hi2Use initiative.
Moreover, in its conclusions at the 36th European Gas Regulatory Forum in May 2022, the Commission, together with other stakeholders in the energy industry, agreed “…joint action to be taken by the gas infrastructure industry (ENTSOG, EHB, GIE, CEDEC, Eurogas, GEODE, GD4S) to visualize all hydrogen infrastructure projects collected within the various existing processes in the form of a map”.
In other words, progress transparency is key for energy market stakeholders, and this includes the presentation of hydrogen project data along the entire value chain.
The interactive, easily accessible and publicly available map provides a comprehensive overview of hydrogen infrastructure projects for stakeholders and policy makers.
Taking this mandate into account, the aforementioned energy industry actors began their work to visualize current hydrogen infrastructure projects and future needs, in the form of an interactive map. Those involved are gas transmission system operators (TSOs), distribution system operators (DSOs), storage system operators (SSOs) and LNG system operators (LSOs), as well as independent promoters developing projects in consortia along the entire value chain, connecting with production and buyers.
Hydrogen infrastructure projects include transmission pipelines, distribution pipelines, storage facilities, terminals and ports, and some demand and generation projects. To complete this picture, the map will be updated regularly to provide an up-to-date picture of the hydrogen economy.
The interactive, easily accessible and publicly available map provides a comprehensive overview of hydrogen infrastructure projects for stakeholders and policy makers. The task began with a bottom-up data collection for all relevant infrastructure projects for the production, storage, import and transport of hydrogen, showing the expected status in 2030, 2040 and 2050.
This could easily be done for projects that are already commissioned or soon to be commissioned. Regarding the inclusion of forward-looking projects — the vision of the future of hydrogen — TSOs have many years of experience in infrastructure planning and development, including work on Ten-Year Gas Network Development Plan (TINDP) projects.
At the same time, DSOs are in a very good position to contribute to planning because of their capacity to connect residential, commercial and industrial end-users of gas. DSOs have detailed knowledge of their networks and, more importantly, an understanding of the local potential for renewable and low-carbon gas production.
Furthermore, hydrogen storage is a necessary technology enabling the emergence of a hydrogen ecosystem, as it provides an essential bridge between variable electricity supply options (dedicated RES and off-grid) and hydrogen demand dynamics. The terminals will further enable the import of hydrogen and its derivatives.
The revamped existing infrastructure is key to connecting hydrogen supply and demand clusters to create a pan-EU “hydrogen backbone”.
The joint efforts of these stakeholders, with the support of Guidehouse in its development, resulted in the publication of the hydrogen infrastructure map on a dedicated website. In total, the map includes over 220 hydrogen projects, with more than 120 TSO and DSO projects, 40 storage facilities and 10 for terminals and ports. Projects include newly built infrastructure, as well as those for the reconstruction and conversion of existing infrastructure.
As the map shows, repurposing existing infrastructure is key to connecting hydrogen supply and demand clusters to create a pan-EU “hydrogen backbone”. It also highlights the need for hydrogen storage as an essential technology and the role of terminals and ports in facilitating the import of hydrogen and its derivatives.
In addition, connecting hydrogen to the distribution system provides an immediate opportunity to create synergies between sectors at the local level. The number of collected projects also confirms that the infrastructure is not a bottleneck, but enables the development of the hydrogen economy.
An integrated network of projects, developed by consortia of stakeholders, shows that this hydrogen economy can only be developed with cooperation along the entire value chain.
[The map] emphasizes the need for hydrogen storage as an essential technology and the role of terminals and ports in facilitating the import of hydrogen and its derivatives.
Despite the various energy challenges we face as European citizens, there is no doubt that we have the tools and the tenacity to innovate and change for the better.
The hydrogen infrastructure map clearly shows the concerted efforts of TSOs, DSOs, SSOs and LSOs to achieve the EC’s REPoverEU targets for climate and energy security. It is an example of progress already made in the short and long term, laying a foundation that will last for years and decades to come.
Additional note: An online session to provide an overview of the purpose and functionality of the interactive map will be held at the ENTSOG conference at 16:00 on 14 December 2022, with additional comments from industry stakeholders involved in the development of the map. A dedicated webinar is also planned for January 2023.
This will be an opportunity to take feedback from stakeholders and use it for future iterations of the map. The map should be considered ‘living’ and regularly updated as new information about the project becomes available.
READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central
A vision of the future: a map of Europe’s hydrogen infrastructure, 13 December 2022
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