Is hydrogen infrastructure the top barrier to investment globally? Limitations in hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure is the number one reason for the lack of investments, surpassing the lack of profitability, according to a recent survey (pdf) carried out by DNV. Some 71% of respondents of DNVs survey — made up of 1.1k respondents from across the hydrogen economy in 80 countries — believe that current hydrogen ambitions underestimate some of the practical limitations and barriers to adoption.

What makes transporting and storing hydrogen so difficult? Hydrogen's flammableproperties and its ability to embrittle materials can easily cause leakages in pipelines and tanks if precautions are not taken, presenting a storage and transport hurdle. Hydrogen also has the lowest energy density of all gasses and is easily lost into the atmosphere; a storage problem rendering it an inefficient energy carrier, according to research by the US Department of Energy (DoE). Currently available storage methods require large-volume systems that see hydrogen stored in its gaseous form, according to a separate report by the DoE. Green hydrogen needs to be kept in subzero, pressurized conditions, making it difficult, expensive, and potentially risky to transport.

Some are forging ahead: Moroccan hydrogen developer Gaia Future Energy and Spanish hydrogen provider HyDeal are partnering upto transport green hydrogen from Gaia Future Energy projects in Morocco and Mauritania to Europe. The hydrogen sourced from North Africa will be transported through a subsea coastal hydrogen pipeline connecting Mauritania and Morocco to Spain, and will leverage the potential avenue provided by the H2Med pipeline project to connect with more by 2030.

Green ammonia to the rescue: Ammonia can act as a carrier for hydrogen, making its transport more energy and size-efficient, and gives the region an advantage in the transition to low-carbon hydrogen given its established infrastructure for ammonia, especially in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Dozens of regional agreements for green ammonia export to Europe, including the USD 5.5 bn green ammonia plant in Ain Sokhna which relied on two existing ammonia facilities in the Suez Canal Economic Zone owned by Fertiglobe.

Domestic manufacturing using green hydrogen increases export value: Not only does green ammonia offer a solution for a more efficient export of green hydrogen, but it can also help unlock USD 45 bn in foreign direct investment, according to a PwC report (pdf). The report makes the case for how the Middle East can reconfigure its value chain to capitalize on its abundant and cost-competitive supply of green energy and how local manufacturing of steel using green hydrogen as a fuel can unlock another USD 155 bn in investments.

Investor confidence reportedly isn’t strong… : The MENA region scored 2.6 out of 5 in a survey of investors’ opinions on hydrogen production infrastructure carried out by the Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA), which gathered data through in-depth interviews with industry experts. Out of the 10 regions assessed, the Middle East comes in 6th place.

… Despite big potential: On a country level, Oman — which has a target to invest USD 140 bn in green hydrogen by 2050 in a bid to produce 7.5-8.5 mn metric tons annually — is on track to become the sixth-largest exporter of hydrogen globally, according to a recent International Energy Agency report (pdf).

Are LNG pipes the future of transportation? Existing natural gas pipelines may become an essential asset in the green transition as researchers find ways to repurpose natural gas pipelines for hydrogen transportation, with Siemens Energy currently running pilot tests to make the conversion. The region’s extensive natural gas pipeline, including the Arab Gas Pipeline, and the EastMed pipeline, may give it an advantage in the future if the studies were to progress further.

Morocco and Algeria faced technical barriers: Despite Morocco and Algeria announcing plans last year to export hydrogen to Europe using existing natural gas pipelines, former UAE Climate Change and Environment Minister Abdullah Belhaif Al-Nuaimi advised against the proposed plan given the great safety concerns that come with compressing hydrogen, according to Attaqa. Al-Nuaimi said that plans should not move forward until the ongoing research has progressed further.

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