Dutch TSO’s investigate gas network for hydrogen transport

Hydrogen

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, together with Gasunie and TenneT, will investigate the conditions under which part of the existing gas network can be used to transport hydrogen.

This study, called HyWay 27, should provide the necessary information so that a timely decision can be made about the realisation of infrastructure for the transport and storage of hydrogen. The final report is expected to be ready at the end of 2020.

The government sees an important role for CO2-free hydrogen in the transition to a sustainable energy system. The scaling-up of hydrogen not only contributes to the achievement of the climate targets, but also offers opportunities to structurally strengthen the Netherlands’ earning capacity, as explained in the long-term Growth Strategy for the Netherlands. Thanks to its favourable location, the international ports and the existing gas networks and storage capacity, the Netherlands will continue to fulfil a hub function for energy in the future.

HyWay 27

With the recently published government vision on hydrogen, the government has presented an ambitious policy agenda to bring about the development of a sustainable hydrogen chain. From the point of view of cost-effectiveness, an important starting point is that the existing natural gas infrastructure should, where possible, be reused (in phases) for the transport of hydrogen. With the HyWay 27 study, grid managers Gasunie and TenneT, together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, are mapping out how and under what conditions the existing gas grid can be used to transport hydrogen in the future.

European hydrogen market

The hydrogen market is pre-eminently international. It is therefore important to have a clear picture of the supply and demand in the Northwest European hydrogen market. The Port of Rotterdam Authority will map out the potential import supply (from overseas), including the possibility of connecting the main hydrogen infrastructure to cross-border pipelines in neighbouring countries such as Germany and Belgium. During the investigation several interested parties are involved in order to verify the findings. The final report is expected to be ready at the end of 2020.

Source: TenneT

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