The potential role of a hydrogen network in Europe

Europe’s electricity transmission expansion suffers many delays, despite its significance for integrating renewable electricity. A hydrogen network reusing the existing gas network could not only help to supply the demand for low-emission fuels but could also balance variations in wind and solar energies across the continent and thus avoid power grid expansion. Our investigation varies the allowed expansion of electricity and hydrogen grids in net-zero CO2 scenarios for a sector-coupled European energy system, capturing transmission bottlenecks, renewable supply and demand variability, and pipeline retrofitting and geological storage potentials. We find that a hydrogen network connecting regions with low-cost…

• HA
  Helmholtz Association

  Award: VH-NG1352