A parallel expansion of hydrogen and electricity grids could not only bring renewable energy from the sunniest and windiest regions of Europe to the densely populated industrial centers, but would also be the cheapest and could save up to 70 billion euros annually across Europe.
A cleverly planned hydrogen network could be built using almost 70% of existing gas pipelines. But even without any expansion of the transmission grids, the energy transition towards renewable energy sources would be possible. And without energy imports. These are the key findings of a comprehensive model analysis of European energy grids by researchers at TU Berlin and Aarhus University, published in the journal "Joule".
"Using software, we can determine what it will take to cost-effectively bring not only the electricity sector, but also the building sector, mobility and industry to net-zero CO2 emissions by the middle of the century at the latest," says Dr. Fabian Neumann from the "Digital Transformation in Energy Systems" department at TU Berlin.
The model not only optimizes the locations for electricity generation from wind and solar power and the corresponding grid expansion, but also the placement of energy storage systems, electrolysers and power-to-X plants, in whichCO2 is converted into hydrocarbons for industry with the help of renewable energies. "Our study comes at just the right time, as the Ministry of Economic Affairs recently presented plans for the expansion of a German hydrogen network," emphasizes Dr. Neumann.
Previously, in 2020, the European gas industry had already made a proposal for the so-called European hydrogen backbone, i.e. a backbone of pipeline infrastructure for a possible hydrogen economy of the future.
