Offshore staff
GENOA, Italy — Low-carbon hydrogen produced in the Middle East could be exported to Europe through a new pipeline under the Mediterranean Sea.
Inspection and certification group RINA and engineering, design and advisory specialist AFRY have jointly performed an initial feasibility study.
Their analysis suggests the pipeline connecting Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Europe could transport about 2.5 MM metric tons/year of hydrogen annually. By constructing additional pipelines, the transport capacity could be substantially scaled up.
According to the study, transporting hydrogen through the pipeline could cost initially EUR1.2/kg H2. And the Gulf region countries could in turn supply green and blue hydrogen to Europe at levelized costs of delivered hydrogen of EUR 2.7 kg from the 2030s, decreasing to about EUR 2.3/kg over the longer term.
Andrea Bombardi, executive vice president at RINA, said, “This first-of-its-kind study considers routing alternatives, technical parameters and feasibility, especially for the deepsea pipeline section, geo-strategic framework conditions and top-level economic estimates of a direct hydrogen pipeline link between the Gulf and Europe as an element of an integrated green energy and industry system across Europe and MENA…
“Together with AFRY, we have identified a potential stable corridor to bring supply and demand together. The scale-up of hydrogen adoption goes through projects like this.”
Antonio Nodari, a member of the executive management team at AFRY Management Consulting, added that the expert team that has worked on this report has "a realistic view of the obstacles that need to be overcome and have the solutions to address those challenges.”
06.27.2023
