DNV study finds offshore hydrogen infrastructure benefits for Europe

The “Specification of a European Offshore Hydrogen Backbone” study, commissioned by infrastructure system operators GASCADE and Fluxys and conducted by DNV, highlights the significant benefits of an offshore hydrogen backbone in the North and Baltic Seas.

Offshore hydrogen production is paramount to meet the substantial increase expected in European hydrogen demand, as hydrogen is due to play a significant role as a low-carbon energy carrier – not only to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors, but also to boost security of energy supply in Europe. Case in point, last week the European Commission launched the Net-Zero Industry Act to accelerate energy transition.

Given the lower costs of hydrogen transmission compared to electricity and the possibility for large pipelines to aggregate offshore hydrogen production from several windfarms, the report assesses:

Offshore hydrogen production is an attractive option for offshore wind production, certainly at distances of more than 100km from shore.

The potential energy generation from offshore wind in the North Sea and Baltic Sea is immense, and possible greater than what the electricity system alone can handle.

The study strengthens GASCADE and Fluxys (infrastructure group in gas transmission, storage and liquefied natural gas terminalling) in their conviction that the AquaDuctus project is a key building block to achieve a green transition and meet the decarbonization targets of the EU Green Deal and Repower EU package.

This large-scale offshore pipeline project, conceived to efficiently carry hydrogen produced from wind farms in the North Sea onto the German onshore hydrogen grid, is indeed designed as a backbone able to collect hydrogen from multiple production sites while also offering the potential to link up with other international hydrogen flows through the North Sea.