TSO Tennet: H2 pipeline study

With Denmark putting a stop to oil and gas production by 2050, the need for renewable alternatives is on the rise. TenneT, one of the leading European transmission system operators, together with Danish transmission system operator, Energinet, and Dutch natural gas infrastructure and transportation company, Gasunie, are exploring the possibility of reusing the existing gas, and potentially oil, pipelines in the North Sea to transport green hydrogen to Denmark and the Netherlands.

In combination with new pipelines, repurposing the existing infrastructure reduces costs and environmental impact. This is particularly relevant since the pipelines pass through protected Natura 2000 areas.

Ramboll was involved in the early phase of the project through a feasibility study that detailed the most favourable hydrogen transport concepts based on capital and operational costs.

The ambition is to connect future energy islands in the North Sea, where green hydrogen will be produced through advanced Power-to-X technologies, with onshore energy infrastructure. Green hydrogen is likely to play a major role in decarbonising sectors of the economy where direct electrification is not possible with current technology, such as shipping, aviation, heavy road transport and heavy industry. Shipping alone accounts for 2.5% of global carbon emissions.

The study prepared by Ramboll served as the design basis for the hydrogen pipelines and interconnectors, with governing design parameters and premises for potential hydrogen systems. The study also determined the optimal operational pressures for potential routings, taking hub and landfall locations into account.