Dutch hydrogen economy: evolution of optimal supply infrastructure and evaluation of key influencing elements

Possible pathways for the evolution of hydrogen (H 2 ) supply infrastructure in The Netherlands are explored and then, from a broader perspective, important factors that can play pivotal role in the evolution, and success, of Dutch H 2 economy are analysed. First, an optimization framework (based on comprehensive spatio‐temporal techno‐economic analysis) is used to map out optimal transition pathways if H 2 were to be introduced in the Dutch transport sector. It is observed that a centralized supply network (with production facilities based on the Rotterdam area and H 2 is trucked to other regions) will be necessary, in the base‐case scenario with 25% market penetration of fuel cell vehicles by 2050. Second, a critical quantitative and qualitative assessment is carried out to understand when do (or can) other production technologies become economically competitive with steam methane reforming (SMR), to produce H 2 . For instance, in the case of coal gasification (CG), for a medium size plant (∼150 tpd), coal ($ /MMBtu) needs to be about 7$ cheaper than natural gas ($ /MMBtu) for CG, at its current state of the technology, to be economically competitive with SMR. Third, since the evolution and eventually the success of fossil‐based H 2 economy, especially during the transition period, may partly depend on the prospects for the carbon capture and storage (CCS), a qualitative assessment of the Dutch CCS potential and current activities is carried out. (Disclaimer: Results/comments are the authors' and do not necessarily represent the views of the associated organizations/institutions) Copyright © 2011 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.