Potential for Exporting Low-Carbon Hydrogen from the UK and Ireland to Germany and Continental Europe
Both the UK and Ireland have extensive potential for large scale offshore wind deployment and have developed national hydrogen strategies to exploit this resource to produce low-carbon hydrogen. There is a strong demand for imported hydrogen in continental Europe, especially in Germany. Arup have conducted studies evaluating the opportunity of both countries with regards to hydrogen export to Europe, performed a pre-feasibility assessment of potential export routes for hydrogen, considering pipeline and non-pipeline transportation methods. We provide an overview of the benefits and limitations of the potential export routes identified and report on the results of a levelized cost of transport (LCOT) model to outline the specific advantages and disadvantages for hydrogen export to continental Europe. We also discuss the delivery enablers required for an interconnector pipeline between the UK and Germany to be constructed and provide the latest results from our Irish hydrogen export study.