Research Program on Robustness of Hydrogen Infrastructure

Aanleiding
North-West Europe, and in particular the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, hosts large, energy intensive industrial clusters. The region also contains a complete potential hydrogen value chain, from production and import to consumers and large scale storage possibilities. The decarbonization of this energy and feedstock is high on the agendas of governments and companies that are based in this region. The use of hydrogen is one of the key enablers to decarbonize the region and can complement electricity as an energy source. It allows the large amounts of foreseen wind energy that is to be produced in the North Sea to be transported far into the hinterlands of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. A hydrogen network can be used to transport large quantities of hydrogen energy over large distances, potentially re-using existing natural gas pipelines. This can be complemented with imported hydrogen (-carriers) from other parts of the world. Hydrogen carriers (e.g. ammonia) can then be converted to hydrogen and fed into the hydrogen network. In addition, pilots are currently ongoing to confirm the potential to store hydrogen at large capacities in salt caverns.

Doelstelling
There is currently no public hydrogen infrastructure to facilitate the transport of hydrogen between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. The Transmission System Operators (TSOs) of the countries have specified cross-border roll-out plans for this infrastructure. The production of renewable hydrogen from solar and wind energy is more variable than the production of natural gas, as it depends on weather conditions according to current definitions. This variability has to be managed, as security of supply is crucial for companies to transition to hydrogen. The hydrogen infrastructure and storage play a pivoting role in the success of the hydrogen economy. An independent view on the security of supply and demand that can be provided by the combined national roll-out plans, in combination with storage possibilities, is essential for companies to rely on. For that reason, the HY3+ project was initiated by TNO and Arcadis. The objective of HY3+ was to provide an independent analysis on prioritization in the roll-out of the envisioned hydrogen networks in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. This was done by evaluating the security of supply and demand of the planned networks.

Korte omschrijving
To do so, a detailed model was generated of the technical hydrogen infrastructure in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. The Global Ambition scenario based on the 10-year network development plan (TNYDP) (adapted by North Sea Wind Power Hub) is used as basis for demand projections in demand clusters. This was complemented with an extensive dataset based on announced projects and strategies that provides location specific estimates for lowemissions hydrogen production, import and storage assets. Sensitivity analyses have been performed on the geographical distribution of feed-in locations of hydrogen to the system. Recent developments also indicate that delays are expected in the timelines for large scale hydrogen production assets to be in operation. For that reason, the results for the 2030 scenarios are indicated as 2030/2033 results. The model is able to compute the hydrogen flows in the network on an hourly basis, based on the intermittent supply & demand of hydrogen to the system. The network model was coupled to a dynamic underground gas storage model, to have a realistic physical model that simulates the dynamic operation of the storage facilities in these countries.

Resultaat
The combination of the models gives insight into the balance in the hydrogen network on an hourly basis, during a year. More importantly, it shows at each location and at each timestep what local pressures and flow velocities can be expected. By comparing these pressures and flow velocities to their allowable values, detailed insights into the security of supply and security of demand were obtained as well as the required storage capacities. The HY3+ study draws conclusions on: 1. the ability of the hydrogen infrastructure to facilitate the transport of hydrogen within physical and technical limitations; 2. the ability of storage facilities to balance both a temporal surplus and shortage of hydrogen production, to provide security of supply in the value chain. This includes not only the foreseen storage volumes, but also the limitations in injection rates and production rates from these storage sites; 3. the likelihood of a successful realization of the value chain in 2030/2033 and 2035.