Hydrogen Infrastructure in the Future CO2-Neutral European Energy System - How Does the Demand for Hydrogen Affect the Need for Infrastructure?

The fast rollout of hydrogen generation, transport, and storage infrastructure hasbecome a top priority of the European Union and its member states. Planninghydrogen infrastructure requires a thorough understanding of the future role ofhydrogen in the energy system. At the same time, there is still huge uncertaintyabout the future demand for hydrogen and its overall role. An energy systemsanalysis is conducted with high temporal and spatial as well as technologicalresolution under alternative demand scenarios. An energy system model is usedto optimize the entire European energy system with hourly time resolution andhigh spatial consideration of renewable energy potentials. The hydrogen demandin the five scenarios ranges from about 700 TWh for mainly industrial uses to2800 TWh in all sectors in the EU27 þ UK by 2050. The results show that anintegrated European hydrogen system is a robust element of the cost-optimalsystem design in all scenarios. This encompasses flexible electrolyzers at the mostfavorable wind and solar locations, long-distance hydrogen transport network,large-scale seasonal underground storage, and electricity generation for peakdemand periods. Conclusions about the individual components are provided andhigh-resolution data on hydrogen demand are available for future research.