The Impact of Ambient Temperature on Low Carbon Energy Supply - Modelling and optimization studies on the supply of hydrogen energy from northern Norway

Abstract

To avoid the worst impacts of climate change a rapid green energy transition is required where traditional fossil fuels are replaced by low-carbon alternatives. One attractive route to emissions reduction is blue hydrogen, which has lower CO₂ emissions that traditional hydrogen production. For hydrocarbon exporters, increased blue hydrocarbon production can be achieved in two main ways: continued gas export with end-user-based hydrogen production or in-country hydrogen production and export. The cold climate in Norway provides a particular advantage to the performance of some industrial processes. A good example of this being the LNG plant at Melkøya, which is the most efficient of its type. Several other processes associated with blue hydrogen production could also benefit from low ambient temperature, increasing the attractiveness of in-country hydrogen production and potentially better supporting a future green hydrogen economy. The work summarised in this thesis includes a set of process optimization studies that look at the impact of ambient temperature on performance for several key links in the blue hydrogen supply chain. Along with this, a supply chain model is developed for a scenario where hydrogen is supplied from northern Norway to the UK. The focus of the work is process modelling and optimization, and several new sets of performance data are developed for important industrial processes. The main conclusion of this study is that the advantage offered by low ambient temperature in northern Norway is sufficient to make the export of blue hydrogen more efficient that a conventional LNG export based scenario over a range of realistic operating cases. The implication of this is that the basis for projects based on a conventional approach should be considered in more detail to ensure that they are based on a sound footing.