LOHC Business Models in Real-Life Trials – Reducing Cost and Risk in a North Sea Context, in Particular Through Repurposing Existing Infrastructure

Abstract The need for deep decarbonization has never been more evident or urgent than right now. The world is far off the Paris Agreement's commitment to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. Countries representing more than 70% of global GDP have committed to reaching net zero, and there is increasingly consensus that hydrogen will play an important role in the decarbonisation of multiple sectors, including heavy goods vehicles, industrial feedstocks and high-grade industrial heating – applications for which there is no other decarbonization solution at present. There are also opportunities to use hydrogen to balance electrical energy systems, and to transport energy globally in a way that is not currently possible with electricity. Given these high potential applications, hydrogen is estimated to provide between 12-22% of the world's final energy demand by 2050. However, there are significant commercial gaps currently in the hydrogen value chain, in particular the lack of a solution for large scale storage and transport of hydrogen. Hydrogen as an energy carrier has a relatively low volumetric energy density. A solution for transporting hydrogen at scale between global low-cost production and demand centers is therefore needed. The growing hydrogen economy represents a major opportunity for energy producers - many of whom have existing skills and infrastructure which can be repurposed for this sector.