LOW-CARBON AND RENEWABLE HYDROGEN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT STUDY

The study compares the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH) for different carriers and transport methods to Rotterdam. It finds that pipeline imports from Norway (2030) and Algeria (2040/2050) offer the lowest LCOH. Among marine carriers, cracked ammonia is the most cost-effective for delivering liberated hydrogen, while uncracked ammonia is the cheapest overall if used directly as fuel. Saudi Arabia is identified as the most economical export location for all marine carriers due to low natural gas prices and favorable construction costs. Carbon emissions are lowest for liquid hydrogen (LH2) among liberated hydrogen chains, but uncracked ammonia is the least carbon-intensive overall. The report also details the technical, safety, and infrastructure challenges associated with each carrier, noting that while ammonia has mature transport infrastructure, large-scale cracking technology is still in development.

• Pipeline delivery of gaseous hydrogen generally provides a more favorable LCOH than marine carriers. Specifically, imports from Norway have the lowest landed costs for 250 kTPA, while Algeria is the most cost-competitive for larger volumes (1,000 and 10,000 kTPA) due to lower natural gas costs.
• Among the marine carriers, cracked ammonia is the most economical option for delivering liberated hydrogen to Rotterdam. For a 250 kTPA supply chain from Saudi Arabia, cracked ammonia has an indicative LCOH of 3.25 USD/kg, compared to 5.41 USD/kg for methylcyclohexane (MCH) and 6.09 USD/kg for liquid hydrogen (LH2).
• Uncracked ammonia, intended for direct use as a fuel in end-markets like ship bunkering or power generation, has the lowest landed cost of all scenarios. For a 250 kTPA supply chain from Saudi Arabia, the LCOH is 2.16 USD/kg.
• Saudi Arabia is the most cost-effective export location for all three marine carriers across all modeled years. This is attributed to a combination of low natural gas feedstock prices, moderate shipping distances to Rotterdam, and favorable local labor rates and productivity factors.
• Liquid hydrogen (LH2) has the highest LCOH among the carriers due to extreme CAPEX requirements for liquefaction and cryogenic storage. It also has the highest power demand, requiring up to 361 MW for the liquefaction process.
• Methylcyclohexane (MCH) is the most carbon-intensive carrier, with a carbon intensity of 0.6 kg CO2 per kg H2 delivered for the 250 kTPA Saudi Arabia case. This is driven by the use of LNG as marine fuel and the high volume of hydrogen required for the dehydrogenation process.
• Among carriers providing liberated hydrogen, LH2 has the lowest CO2 emissions, with a carbon intensity of 0.34 kg CO2 per kg H2 delivered (85 kTPA CO2 for the 250 kTPA case). However, uncracked ammonia is the least carbon-intensive carrier overall.
• The dehydrogenation of MCH is highly energy-intensive, consuming approximately 42% of the equivalent lower heating value (LHV) of the hydrogen produced, which significantly increases the required scale of the Hydrogen Generation Plant (HGP).

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2022). LOW-CARBON AND RENEWABLE HYDROGEN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT STUDY. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/23054736/catf-kbr-landed-cost-hydrogen-carriers.pdf

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. LOW-CARBON AND RENEWABLE HYDROGEN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT STUDY. 2022. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/23054736/catf-kbr-landed-cost-hydrogen-carriers.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=LOW-CARBON AND RENEWABLE HYDROGEN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT STUDY |date=June 2022 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/23054736/catf-kbr-landed-cost-hydrogen-carriers.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2022lowcarbon, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{LOW-CARBON AND RENEWABLE HYDROGEN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT STUDY}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/23054736/catf-kbr-landed-cost-hydrogen-carriers.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }