i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he

Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers as an efficient vector for the

transport and storage of renewable energy
Daniel Teichmann*, Wolfgang Arlt, Peter Wasserscheid
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Department for Chemical and Bioengineering, 91058 Erlangen, Germany

article info

abstract

Article history:

This contribution proposes the usage of Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC) for the

Received 26 June 2012

storage and subsequently the transport of renewable energy. It is expected that a signifi-

Received in revised form

cant share of future energy consumption will be satisfied with the import of energy coming

11 August 2012

from regions with high potential for renewable generation, e.g. the import of solar power

Accepted 13 August 2012

from Northern Africa to Europe. In this context the transport of energy in form of chemical

Available online 27 September 2012

carriers is proposed supplementary to electrical transmission. Because of their high storage

density and good manageability under ambient conditions Diesel-like LOHC substances

Keywords:

could be transported within the infrastructure that already exists for the handling of liquid

Hydrogen storage

fossil fuels (e.g. oil tankers, tank trucks, pipelines, etc.). A detailed assessment of energy

renewable energy

consumption as well as of transport costs is conducted that confirms the feasibility of the

Energy transport

concept.

LOHC

Copyright 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights

Liquid hydrogen carriers

reserved.

Feasibility study

1.

Introduction

In many countries around the world there exist ambitious

goals to reduce mankinds dependency on fossil fuels like
coal, oil and gas in favor of an increasing share of renewable
energies like solar energy or wind power [1,2]. The hitherto
existing vast use of the aforementioned fossil fuels in very
different sectors has been a consequence not only of their
good availability and comparably low costs, but also of their
very beneficial physical handling characteristics. Especially
liquid fossil fuels like crude oil have a high energy density and
are therefore good energy carriers which can be transported
and stored very efficiently e both in regard to technological
and economic aspects.

With the transition of the energy system toward a higher

share of renewable energy, hydrogen is often considered
a very capable future energy vector [3]. It can be produced
from renewable wind or solar power via electrolysis and has
a wide range of potential applications in all important fields of
energy supply.
The gravimetric energy storage density of hydrogen is
excellent. One kilogram carries about 33 kWh of energy. Being
the chemical element with the lowest density, the volumetric
storage density of hydrogen is a huge problem though. Under
ambient conditions 1 l of gaseous hydrogen stores about 3 Wh
of energy only. In existing technical applications hydrogen is
therefore either stored in its gaseous state under very high
pressures up to 700 bar (called Compressed Gaseous

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: Daniel.Teichmann@cbi.uni-erlangen.de (D. Teichmann).
0360-3199/$ e see front matter Copyright 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2012.08.066

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

Hydrogen or CGH2) or in its liquid state which requires

temperatures below
253  C (called Liquid Hydrogen or
LH2). This very low temperature allows for an ambient pressure storage of hydrogen but still with the extremely low
liquid density of 71.2 kg/m3.
In addition to the technological complexity of these storage
concepts, the huge investment costs that are necessary to
establish a nation-wide distribution infrastructure for
hydrogen are a big challenge. The handling of CGH2 for
example is very well known in the chemical industry and
a few hydrogen pipelines already exist. But to make hydrogen
available in the same way like natural gas or electricity,
a complete new hydrogen distribution system would have to
be installed in addition to the already existing grids for electricity and natural gas.
Due to these limitations, researchers work on alternative
concepts for the storage and transport of hydrogen in chemically bound forms [4].
One particularly attractive concept in this context is Energy
Carrying Compounds (ETS, from the German name EnergieTragende Stoffe) [5,7]. Here the energy is stored in form of
chemical compounds with a high energy content, which
opens a chance to store big quantities over a longer period of
time. The compound under consideration travels from the
spot of energy delivery to the spot of energy demand and back.
It is being charged with energy if the latter is available and it
vice versa releases energy on demand. Like a catalyst the ETS
is not consumed but undergoes a cyclic process of hydrogen
loading and hydrogen releasing steps. This route of energy
storage and distribution is virtually carbon free, so no CO2 is
released in the utilization of the stored energy.
One example for ETS is Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers
(LOHC) where hydrogen does not exist in its molecular form
but is covalently bound to a liquid carrier substance via
hydrogenation [6e8]. At the time and place of energy demand,
hydrogen can be released via dehydrogenation. The hydrogen
carrying liquid itself is not consumed but can be reloaded and
used in further cycles. Various substances have been discussed as potential ETS candidates, e.g. methylcyclohexaneetoluene by [6], a variety of cycloalkanes [9] and ammoniaborane-based systems [8,10]. The focus of this contribution
lies on heterocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons like N-ethylcarbazole [11], which e due to extensive research e are
currently among the best understood LOHC systems with
convenient material properties for the application as an
energy carrier.
As hydrocarbazoles have many physico-chemical similarities to Diesel fuel, the complexity of handling, transporting
and storing gaseous hydrogen is basically reduced to the
handling of a liquid diesel-like substance. The fundamentals
of the hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions of Nethylcarbazole are illustrated in Fig. 1. For a detailed description there exist various publications [12e14].
The melting point of fully dehydrogenated N-ethylcarbazole is 69.1  C and it is therefore a solid at ambient
temperature. Perhydro-N-ethylcarbazole and the partially
hydrogenated intermediates in contrast are liquids. To guarantee full liquid handling of the LOHC substance, the dehydrogenation process can be restricted to around 90%
discharging by limiting the residence time within the catalytic

18119

Fig. 1 e Energy storage via hydrogenation and

dehydrogenation of N-ethylcarbazole.

reaction system. While the theoretical storage density of Nethylcarbazole e perhydro-N-ethylcarbazole would be 5.8 wt%, only 5.3 wt-% materials energy density can be achieved
following this approach.
Existing safety data sheets show that the toxicity of Nethylcarbazole is rather uncritical, see Table 1 [15].
Because of its very low vapor pressure there is no detectable vapor phase under ambient conditions which further
facilitates handling and safety issues of the carbazole LOHC
system.
Under the assumption that the return and reloading of the
unloaded carrier material is made possible, the existing, very
well established infrastructure for the distribution of mineral
oil based fuels could be used for LOHC. Because of its high
energy storage density and good handling characteristics
a variety of applications for mobility, heating, long distance
energy transport or long-term energy storage (for example for
energy coming from intermittent producing renewable energies) can be envisaged [16].
The local potential for the installation of renewable energies is geographically not evenly distributed and therefore
there often is a local mismatch between the level of energy
consumption (strongly depending on population and industrialization density) and the potential for renewable energy.
Therefore, it is foreseeable that with the transition toward
a higher share of renewable energies like wind or solar, more
and more power must be transported over long distances in
the future. The Desertec Industrial Initiative [17] for instance
planned to produce electricity on a grand scale in Northern
Africa and to import it to Europe either by HVDC-lines under

Table 1 e Material safety information N-ethylcarbazole.

CAS number
Toxicity data
LD50 (oral)
Skin
Eye
LC50 (96 h)
Globally Harmonized System
of Classification and Labeling
of Chemicals
Transport information

86-28-2
>5000 mg/kg non-toxic
Not irritating (OECD 404)
Not irritating (OECD 405)
<10 mg/l (Golden Orfe)
Aquatic chronic 2, H411,
no signal word
UN 3077 environmentally
hazardous substance, solid,
n.o.s., Class 9, PG III, Label 9

18120

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

the sea or through notably unstable countries on land. Similarly new power lines must be built in Germany to transport
electricity from wind plants, which are primarily installed onand off-shore in Northern Germany, to the industrial centers
in the South and West. It must be noted that an enhanced grid
increases the number of customers but does not store energy
at all. In public discussion an electric transmission of energy is
often considered as the main option. But due to their attractive handling and storage characteristics (high energy density,
negligible losses in long term storage), LOHC systems using
the existing infrastructure for liquid energy carriers (tank
ships, storage tanks, and filling stations) can be a very promising alternative.

2.

Methodology

It is the purpose of this contribution to evaluate the use of

LOHCs for the storage, the transport and consequently the
provision of renewable energy.
Consequently individual process steps for different means
of transportation e e.g. per ship, truck or pipeline e are evaluated with regard to the following two dimensions:
- Efficiency dimension: energy consumption during transport
and provision
- Economic dimension: specific costs per kg hydrogen.
This approach follows the concept of a Life Cycle
Assessment, similar to existing Well-to-Wheel analyses that
are carried out to assess energy consumption of mobile fuels
provision and usage [18]. It tries to incorporate consumption
in all steps of the fuel provision chain. For comparisons sake
the energy transport via LOHC is matched to the more mature
hydrogen storage concepts of liquid (cryogenic) hydrogen
(LH2) and compressed gaseous hydrogen (CGH2). To assure
a good and fair comparability of the technologies, a high
degree of homogeneity is strived for in all assumptions and
considerations.
The analyses do not act on the pre-condition of an allrenewable energy system where all forms of energy production and usage are satisfied by emission-free renewable energies. Instead it is assumed that hydrogen shall be produced
sustainably from renewable energies, but its transportation via
ship, truck, etc. might at least partly consume fossil energy. As
it might take several decades to completely change our energy
system from fossil to renewable energies, there will be a long
transition phase during which the level of sustainability is
continually raised. This fact provokes a new constraint to
a new technology: it must be possible to introduce it step-bystep. This is fully reflected by the LOHC-concept.
The results of the analysis depend significantly on the
input parameters that are used. Some of the concepts that are
considered here are in an early stage of development or
research. The technology descriptions and assumptions for
CGH2 and LH2 are primarily based on literature. Where
possible, future cost degression and technology improvements were taken into account but still the matter-of-fact
progress could prove otherwise. The data input for the analysis of LOHC is primarily based on own estimations,

technology comparisons and extrapolation of experimental

findings.

2.1.

Efficiency dimension e energy consumption

During the processing, transportation and storage of

hydrogen, energy is consumed that must be taken into
account for the calculation of the energetic feasibility of the
fuel provision chain. Although in thermodynamics energy can
never be lost but only converted, the term energy loss or
energy consumption is used here to describe for example
waste heat that cannot be regained economically. For the
considered paths the energy losses (Ex) occurring during
a process step are calculated relative to the amount of transported energy (expressed by the lower heating value of the
hydrogen, LHV, 33 kWh/kg). The energy content of Diesel fuel
or marine fuel is 11.1 kWh/kg.

2.2.
Economic dimension e specific costs for hydrogen
transport
The specific costs of hydrogen transport are very important
indicators for the economic feasibility of the concept. They are
calculated per kilogram of hydrogen.
The Equivalent Annuity Method is applied in this
contribution to determine the financial impact of the capital.
Future cash flows are discounted to their Net Present Value
(NPV) to account for the differing points in time in which they
occur. The Equivalent Annuity Method calculates the annualized cash flow of an investment by dividing its net present
value by the so-called annuity factor AF. Based on depreciation period and interest rate it expresses the annual cost of
owning and using a piece of equipment or a facility. The socalled annuity factor AF is defined as follows (i being the
interest rate, n the number of years of usage):
n

AFi;n

1 i $i
n
1 i
1

The annualized capital costs are calculated by multiplication of the AF with the investment costs. All costs are
expressed in Euro. Whenever a conversion from US-Dollar is
necessary, an exchange rate of 1.30 $/V is applied.
Other types of costs:
- Operating expenses: These on-going costs incur during the
operation of a piece of equipment and include costs e.g. for
maintenance and service, labor, insurance, etc.
- Energy costs: The cost for electric energy is e unless stated
otherwise e assumed to be 0.05 V/kWh. This takes into
account that the energy-intensive processes will primarily
be carried out in times of energy overproduction from
renewable energies. It can be assumed that electricity prices
are considerably lower than average during these times. The
cost for Diesel fuel for road transport is assumed to be
1.40 V/l. Marine fuel oil is usually traded in US-$ per ton of
fuel. The prices varied heavily in a range of 200e600 $/ton
over the last years [19]. In the following a price of 350 V/ton
is assumed.

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

- Other costs: This position comprises various other costs which

are characteristic for single processes and only occur in their
specific context. All means of transport or storage of liquid
cryogenic hydrogen come with a certain hydrogen loss rate due
to boil-off. The economic value of the lost energy is taken into
account with the hydrogen price being assumed to be 5 V/kg.

3.
Assessment of different means of
transportation for hydrogen and electricity

18121

The hydrogenation of LOHC is exothermic. As a consequence heat with a temperature between 150 and 170  C is
produced during the reaction. As some part of this heat might
be used in future applications this waste heat possesses
a certain economic value. In favor of a conservative evaluation
the use of this exothermic heat is not taken into account in
this publication.
The hydrogenation of the LOHC carrier material comprises
the following cost parameters:
a) Depreciation of capital costs

In this section different concepts for the transport of hydrogen

as well as the electrical transmission of energy are analyzed.
As the usage of compressed or liquid hydrogen has been the
topic of various publications these technologies are used as
reference in order to assess the LOHC concept.

3.1.

Processing of hydrogen

Because of its low volumetric energy density, hydrogen needs

to be technically processed in order to improve its transportability and storage stability. In this contribution
compression of hydrogen, liquefaction and the storage in
liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC) are considered.
For LH2 and LOHC there is only one conditioning process as
the first stage of the transport process. Subsequently the
physical state is kept until the hydrogen is finally used. By
contrast a singular exclusive condition step usually doesnt
exist for CGH2 as the pressure level varies over the distribution
chain. For example there might be a compression step right
after hydrogen production up to 200 bar for truck transport
and then a final compression to 750 bar at the pumping station.
Even if there might not be a single compression but several
consecutive steps a compression from production output level
(30 bar) to 350 bar is assumed in the following.

3.1.1.

Compression of hydrogen (CGH2)

Usually multi-stage compressors are used to provide high

output pressures. The pressure level depends on the application and means of transport. In tube trailers hydrogen is
usually stored at 200 bar. For mobility applications CGH2 is
usually delivered at 350 or 700 bar pressure.

3.1.2.

Liquefaction of hydrogen (LH2)

Hydrogen in its liquid state has an energy density of around

2.3 kWh/l. As hydrogen has to be cooled down to
253  C the
liquefaction process is very energy intensive. Worldwide there
exist several liquefaction plants with some tons of hydrogen
capacity per day. In future facilities with higher capacity,
a significant reduction of energy consumption and much
lower investment costs seem possible.

3.1.3.

Hydrogenation of carrier substance (LOHC)

Facilities for catalytic hydrogenation exist in large scale in

refineries and chemical plants. The special application of
LOHC hydrogenation does e apart from laboratory scale e not
exist today. But very similar molecules are hydrogenated in
large scale operations. Therefore important parameters like
capital costs or process efficiencies can be derived from these
similar cases.

Large-scale hydrogenation of aromatic hydrocarbons is

a standard procedure in the chemical industry with millions
of tons being processed every year. Because of the physicochemical similarities between LOHC and Diesel fuel, Diesel
Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and Hydrodearomatization (HDA)
(both processes are basically hydrogenations) can be used as
benchmark to assess the level of investment costs for LOHC
hydrogenation [20]. Yamaguchi gives investment costs
between 1600 and 2300 USD per barrel per stream day (bpsd) of
throughput [21]. Uhde mentions specific costs for a HDS/HDA
facility of around 2300 USD/bpsd [22]. Conservatively, 3000 V/
bpsd or 260 V/kW (LHV of stored hydrogen) of investment cost
are assumed. This value corresponds pretty well to the
assumptions that are proposed by TIAX for a large-scale LOHC
hydrogenation device [23] (TIAX estimates the total costs for
a hydrogenation device with 250 tons of H2 per day as 526
million $. Following the approach of this publication where
carrier material and storage cost is assessed separately this
corresponds to 129 million $ or 285 V/kW).
Regarding the high throughput of LOHC material there is
also a contribution to the capital cost coming from the LOHC
material which is permanently tied up in the plant. With the
assumption that this amount corresponds to half a day of
production output, 6.8 kg of LOHC per kW installed power with
an estimated economic value of 27 V (4 V per kg LOHC) are also
to be assessed as capital investment.
b) Operating expenses
In accordance with the assumptions made for LH2 and
CGH2, operating expenses are 3% of the investment costs per
year.
c) Cost of catalyst material
The hydrogenation of LOHC is a catalytic reaction. Like for
technologically similar hydrogenations of organic compounds
(e.g. hydro-desulfurization of Diesel fuel), catalyst systems
based on palladium or platinum can be used for the hydrogenation of LOHC (weight-percentage of precious metals is
typically below 0.5%). TIAX assumes a catalyst productivity of
500,000 kg of LOHC per one kg of catalyst material and catalyst
costs of around 150 V per kg [23].
d) Cost for recycling/replacement of carrier material
As the carrier material is not consumed in the energy
releasing process, it is being reloaded with hydrogen after

18122

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

every cycle. On a laboratory scale many consecutive cycles of

hydrogenation and dehydrogenation have been performed in
the past years and showed a very high cycle stability with no
perceptible degradation or carrier loss. In order to attain
a conservative evaluation of the concept a degradation rate
per cycle of 0.1% and LOHC material costs of 4 V/kg are
assumed [23,24].
e) Electricity costs
Apart from the water electrolysis to produce hydrogen,
electric power is needed primarily for the compression of
hydrogen from the outlet pressure level of the electrolysis
(30 bar) to the reaction pressure of 70 bar. Around 0.011 kWh of
electrical energy are necessary per kWh of processed
hydrogen [5].

3.1.4.

Results

Table 2 shows assumptions and results regarding costs and

energy consumption of hydrogen storage in detail.

3.2.

Hydrogen transport by sea

Regarding a world-wide system of renewable energy production and demand, the long-distance transport of hydrogen by
ship might play an important role in the future.
While the concept of transporting liquid hydrogen per ship
has already been considered, the long-distance transport of
compressed hydrogen is not attractive due to its low energy
density and not feasible in existing ships. The Diesel-like
attributes of LOHC however make it possible to transport
this material like crude oil in existing oil tankers. As this
approach seems very promising it is evaluated in detail in the
following.

3.2.1.

Sea transport of liquid hydrogen

The intercontinental transport of liquid hydrogen has been

considered, for example in connection with the Euro Quebec
Hydro Hydrogen Pilot Project (EQHHPP). The purpose of this
project was to evaluate the transport of electricity from hydro
power from Canada to Germany via sea transportation of
liquid hydrogen. The values used are based on a concept for
a LH2-barge carrier [26]. This carrier ship would carry 5 LH2
containers, each containing 210 tons of liquid hydrogen.

3.2.2.

Sea transport of LOHC

As mentioned, the transportation of energy via LOHC is very

interesting as existing ships and port infrastructures could be
used. Tankers are often classified by their size in deadweight
tonnage (dwt) ranging from 10,000 dwt for small tankers up to
550,0004 dwt for Ultra-large crude carriers [27]. Product
tankers are used for the transport of chemical substances and
would be the first choice for a transportation of LOHC. For the
transportation distances that are considered here Handysize
(10,000e30,000 dwt) or Handymax classes (30,000e45,000 dwt)
are a feasible option. Currently there are about 2300 ships of
these two classes in operation worldwide (total number of
tankers >5000 dwt is 5300) [28]. The considerations are based
on a 45,000 dwt product tanker (Handymax class) with a drive
power of 9000 kW [27] and a speed of 15 knots.

3.2.3.

Results

Table 3 shows assumptions and results of the analysis for the

transport of hydrogen by sea in detail.
There are two main reasons for the comparably high costs
of LH2 transport:
- With 1050 tons of hydrogen the maximum cargo is comparably low resulting in high energy consumption and costs
per kg.

Table 2 e Cost and energy assessment for the storage of hydrogen.

Description
Cost assessment

Assumptions

Results

Energy

Capital cost per kW (LHV hydrogen)

Consumption of electric energy
Depreciation period
Interest rate
Annuity factor
Operating time per year
Operating expenses
Catalyst productivity
Substitution rate of LOHC
Depreciation costs per kg hydrogen
Electricity costs
Operating expenses
Catalyst cost
Substitution of LOHC material
Total costs for conditioning
Energy consumption

Unit
V/kW
kWhel/kWhHyd
years

hours
% of invest p.a.
kg LOHC/kg Cat
% per cycle
V/kg hydrogen
V/kg hydrogen
V/kg hydrogen
V/kg hydrogen
V/kg hydrogen
V/kg hydrogen
kWhx/kWhHyd

LH2

CGH2

LOHC

287
0.011
20
6.00%
8.7%
8000
3%
500,000
0.1%
0.103 V
0.018 V
0.036 V
0.006 V
0.075 V
0.238 V
1.1%

797
0.21a
20
6.00%
8.7%
8000
3%

383
0.035b
20
6.00%
8.7%
8000
3%

0.287 V
0.347 V
0.099 V

0.138 V
0.058 V
0.047 V

0.732 V
21.0%

0.243 V
3.5%

a [18] and [25] give an energy consumption of 0.3 kWh of electrical energy per kWh of liquefied hydrogen with a possible improvement to 0.21
until 2030. Investment costs for a 300 MW unit (lower heating value of the hydrogen) are given to be 239 million V.
b The energy consumption for a hydrogen compression from 30 to 350 bar mainly depends on the efficiency and size of the compressors. In the
following calculations an energy consumption of 0.035 kWh of electrical energy per kWh of compressed hydrogen is used [25,31]. While [31]
gives specific investment costs of 12,500 V per kg/h compression capacity, [25] gives around 2300 V and [48] around 9000 V per kg/h
capacity. In the following capital costs of 12,600 V per kg/h are assumed.

18123

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

Table 3 e Cost and energy assessment for the sea transport of hydrogen via ship.
Description

Unit

1000 km
Cost assessment

Assum.

Results

Energy

Cargo (mass of transported hydrogen)

Drive power
Purchase costs of ship
Depreciation period
Interest rate
Annuity factor
Hydrogen boil off
Cost of operation
Duration of loading / unloading
Cruising speed
Total time of (un-)loading and travel
Fuel consumption per day
Depreciation cost for ship per day
Amount of consumed fuel
Depreciation cost per kg Hydrogen
Operating expenses
Fuel cost
Hydrogen loss
Total costs of ship transport
Energy consumption

tons
kW
million V
years

% of cargo per day

V per day
days
knots
days
tons
V
tons
V/kg hydrogen
V/kg hydrogen
V/kg hydrogen
V/kg hydrogen
V/kg hydrogen
kWhx/kWhHyd

LOHC

LH2
5000 km

1050
10,540
146a
25
6.00%
7.8%
0.1%b
11,500 Vc
2
18
6.5
16.5
65
31,291 V
163
815
0.194 V
0.492 V
0.071 V
0.181 V
0.054 V
0.272 V
0.006 V
0.031 V
0.326 V
0.976 V
5.2%
26.1%

1000 km

5000 km

2400
9000
35d
25
6.00%
7.8%
e
5000 Ve
2
15
7

19
56
7501 V
167
835
0.022 V
0.059 V
0.015 V
0.040 V
0.024 V
0.122 V
0.061 V
2.3%

0.221 V
11.7%

a Capital costs were assumed to be 146 million V with the ship having 10 MW drive power at full speed (18 kn 33 km/h) [26].
b Like for all cryogenic hydrogen storage systems a minimal heat transfer is unavoidable despite complex insulation of the tanks. The boil-off
rate e the amount of hydrogen that is lost due to evaporation and consequently boiling off e is expected to be in the order of 0.1% of the cargo
per day (not on the return trip as the cargo is empty). Assuming a hydrogen price of 4 V/kg the boil-off contributes to the total cost of
transportation.
c According to [26] operating expenses are approx. 11,500 V per day.
d According to [27] the capital costs for a new ship of this type are approximately 43 million $ or 35 million V. 45,000 deadweight tonnage of
LOHC corresponds to about 2400 tons of Hydrogen cargo (storage density of 5.3%).
e The operating expenses of a tanker of this class can be assumed to be 5000 V per day [29].

- The capital investment for the LH2 ship is very high due to
the technologically complex insulation of the cryogenic LH2
containers. That results in high annual depreciation.

3.3.2. Road transportation of compressed gaseous hydrogen

(CGH2)

The usage of existing fleets of product tankers that could be

realized via LOHC promises considerably lower investments
and the option of an incremental introduction of hydrogen
technology.

CGH2 distribution is carried out by trailers which carry

a multitude of pressure cylinders (cylinder bundle). The
amount of hydrogen that is carried depends on the pressure
level. According to the study Roads2Hy [30] 340 kg can be
carried while Valentin [31] gives a value of 462 kg. Optimistically 500 kg are assumed in the following.

3.3.

3.3.3.

Hydrogen distribution per truck

Hydrogen delivery via road is comparably expensive. Nevertheless, the last mile of transportation to the end user is
often conducted by a truck. There already exist cryogenic
trailers for LH2 and cylinder bundle trailers for CGH2 transportation. For the delivery of LOHC standard road tankers
could be used.
In this assessment, distances of 20 km and 50 km were
considered for road transportation of hydrogen. These are
typical distances for the distribution of fuel from a central
storage facility to the consumer (e.g. gasoline station, home
heating systems).

3.3.1.

Road transportation of liquid hydrogen (LH2)

LH2 can be transported in cryogenic trailers with a hydrogen

capacity of 3500 kg [26] for a 40-ton truck. Hydrogen loss due to
boil-off is approximately 0.5% per journey [31].

Road transportation of LOHC

It is assumed that road tankers, which qualify for the transport of liquid, flammable substances (class 3, GHS e Globally
Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals) can also be used for the transport of LOHC [23,32]. These
road tankers usually consist of several separated compartments and could therefore even carry loaded and unloaded
LOHC material at the same time if necessary.
Regarding the maximum cargo the gross vehicle weight is
the limiting factor for the transport of LOHC. Subtracting the
weight of the truck, the maximum net load is 28.5 tons. Based
on a storage density of 5.3 wt-%, a LOHC trailer could carry
1500 kg of hydrogen. While the maximum cargo for liquid
hydrogen LH2 is mainly determined by volume constraints,
the net load capacity is the limiting factor for LOHC transport.
Unlike a gasoline tanker, the LOHC trailer would always be
filled as the unloaded carrier has to be returned in exchange to
fresh material. It has to be considered that this return journey

18124

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

Table 4 e Cost assessment for the truck and the trailers used for hydrogen transport.
Trucka
Purchasing costs
Depreciation period
Interest rate
Annuity factor
Maintenance per year
Operating time
Truck/trailer costs

Euro
years

% of capital cost
hours per year
per hour

LH2-trailer

160,000 V
8
6.00%
0.16
12%
3500
12.85 V

450,000 V
12
6.00%
0.12
2%
3500
17.91 V

CGH2-trailer

250,000 V
12
6.00%
0.12
2%
3500
9.95 V

LOHC-trailer
80,000 Vd
12
6.00%
0.12
2%
3500
3.18 V

a It is assumed that special trailers for CGH2, LH2 and LOHC transportation are towed by a Mercedes Benz Actros truck. According to [26] the
average fuel consumption is 35 l/100 km, the capital costs approx. 160,000 V with a depreciation period of 8 years.
b Capital costs are assumed to be in the order of 450,000 V (500,000 V in [26], according [31] 770,000 V at the year of the publication and 435,000 V
as future potential). The depreciation period is assumed to be 12 years. Hydrogen Boil-off during transport and especially during loading/
unloading operations is assumed to be 0.5% of the transported hydrogen [26].
c The capital costs for the trailer are 190,000 V [30] or according to [31] 360,000 at present and 250,000 V in the future. The latter value is assumed
in this assessment.
d The capital costs for the described liquid fuel trailer are assumed to be 80,000 V [23] with a depreciation period of 12 years.

e back to the fuel silo e is also necessary for the empty CGH2
or LH2 trailers. The additional energy consumption (as
a consequence of the higher vehicle weight) is comparably
small.

3.3.4.

Results

As a first step, the costs for the truck and for the different
trailers per hour of operation were calculated according to the
assumptions (Table 4).
Using these results Table 5 shows the total costs and
energy consumption for different means of hydrogen transport via truck.
The costs and energy consumptions for the road transport
of LH2 and LOHC are similar. Apparently the higher cargo of
LH2 compensates for the higher capital investment. CGH2
trailers can only carry a small amount of hydrogen which
makes this way of transportation rather inefficient and very
costly.

3.4.

Release of hydrogen

After transportation hydrogen has to be released for further

use. Liquid Hydrogen needs to be vaporized prior to use in
a fuel cell. The energy demand depends on the pressure
requirements of the application and can amount to up to 1.9%
[18]. Only if it is being used in an internal combustion engine
liquid cryogenic hydrogen might improve power characteristics by cooling down charge air. Also compressed gaseous
hydrogen has to be expanded under heat input for low pressure applications.
Due to its endothermicity the release of hydrogen from
a LOHC system via catalytic dehydrogenation requires energy
input. For the system N-ethylcarbazole/perhydro-N-ethylcarbazole about 20% of the energy content of the hydrogen
need to be supplied thermally to enable the reaction
(temperature level approx. 230  C). As no buffer storage
between release and usage of hydrogen is envisaged, there is

Table 5 e Cost and energy assessment for the land transport of hydrogen via truck.
Description

Unit

LH2
20 km

Cost assessment

Assum.

Results

Energy

Cargo (mass of hydrogen)

Duration of loading/unloading
Average driving speed
Journey time (return trip)
Duration of (un-)loading and travel
Truck costs
Trailer costs
Labor costsa
Fuel costs
Hydrogen loss due to boil-off
Total costs of truck transport
Energy consumption

kg
hours
km/h
hours
hours
V/kg hyd
V/kg hyd
V/kg hyd
V/kg hyd
V/kg hyd
V/kg hyd
kWhx/kWhHyd

50 km

3500
3
30
45
1.33
2.22
5.2b
4.3b
0.016
0.019
0.022
0.027
0.043
0.052
0.006
0.014
0.025
0.025
0.112
0.137
0.62%
0.80%

CGH2
20 km

30
1.33
3.3
0.086
0.066
0.163
0.039
e
0.355
0.83%

50 km

500
2
45
2.22
4.2
0.108
0.084
0.226
0.098
e
0.516
2.08%

LOHC
20 km

50 km

1500
2
30
45
1.33
2.22
2.8
3.7
0.024
0.032
0.006
0.008
0.066
0.087
0.013
0.033
e
e
0.109
0.159
0.28%
0.69%

a Labor costs for the driver are assumed to be 35 V/h. Note that the driver also executes the charging operations so that no further personnel is
required.
b According to [31] and [26] the LH2 charging operation lasts between 5 and 8 h today with a potential decrease to 1.5 h in the future, when there
exist more standardized operation protocols and technologies. In the following, a total time demand of 3 h is assumed for both charging and
discharging of the trailer.

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

a close temporal link between the energy need for hydrogen

release and the typically exothermic hydrogen usage.
Downstream consumers for hydrogen like gas turbines or
fuel cells have limited efficiency. As long as the heat level of
their waste heat is sufficiently high, this waste heat can be
used for the dehydrogenation of LOHC. That holds true for gas
turbines, combustion engines and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC).
Pairing LOHC dehydrogenation with a PEM fuel cell currently
necessitates additional heat supply because of the insufficient
operating temperature. As electric heating is usually not
reasonable, a possible solution would be to burn some of the
produced hydrogen in a catalytic burner in order to support
the reaction e this results in an energy penalty. It is important
to note however, that fuel cell producers report about small
waste flows of hydrogen in the fuel cell that could be also used
for this heating purpose.
The use of a PEM fuel cell is realistic for mobility applications, for example in a hydrogen car. The energy penalty
doesnt apply though if using solid oxide fuel cells, combustion engines or gas turbines in stationary applications, such as
house heating (either combustion of hydrogen or SOFC) or
electricity generation (presumably gas turbines or SOFC)
which are also the standard scenario for the following
considerations.
The dehydrogenation of organic substances is e unlike
hydrogenation e not a standard procedure in the refinery or
chemical industries. TIAX has considered the cost for an
automotive on-board dehydrogenation device which is the
basis for the values that are considered here [23]. While a car
application comes with only some hundred operation hours
per year, the focus of this publication is on large-scale offboard dehydrogenation with high capacity factors. Therefore
some modifications to TIAXs data are made.
In order to power a 70 kW fuel cell (efficiency 55%),
a 127 kW dehydrogenation device is necessary. According to
TIAX, investment costs for this device could be 2500 USD or
15 V/kW (LHV hydrogen) including a catalytic burner for heat
generation (for the PEM FC case). Regarding the requirements
of a long-life stationary application, 40 V/kW are assumed in
the following as a conservative value. Indirect costs like land
and projects costs etc. are included by assuming a mark up on
the reactor costs (Table 6).

Table 6 e Costs for hydrogen release from LOHC.

Description
Assumptions

Results

Capital costs
Depreciation
period
Interest rate
Annuity factor
Operating hours
per year
Indirect costs
Depreciation
Indirect costs
Total costs for H2
release from
LOHC

Unit

Stationary
HRU

V/kW
years

40
20

hours

6.00%
8.72%
8000

% of capital
V/kg H2
V/kg H2
V/kg H2

20%
0.014 V
0.003 V
0.017 V

18125

3.5.
Electric transmission of energy via High Voltage
Direct Current Transmission (HVDC)
In comparison to HVAC (alternating current), HVDC technology allows for energy transport over long distances with
only little losses. A good overview over this technology is
given in the Trans-CSP study by DLR [33]. Table 7 shows costs
and energy consumption for the transmission of electric
energy via HVDC over a distance of 3100 km. Thereby the costs
for electricity lost during transmission is also accounted for.

4.
Scenarios for the long-distance transport
of energy
Having evaluated energy consumption and costs for several
means of transportation, this section uses the gathered
information to comprehensively evaluate relevant scenarios
for the transport of energy.

4.1.
Transportation of solar power from Northern Africa
to Europe
The annual energy demand of the whole world could theoretically be satisfied by the solar irradiation on a comparably
small fraction of the Sahara desert in Northern Africa [17]. The
Desertec Industrial Initiative, which was founded in 2009,
therefore strives for the installment of huge CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) plants. Part of the produced energy could
be exported to Europe via HVDC (high voltage direct current)
transmission which allows for lower energy losses than
conventional high voltage AC power lines.
Several publications have discussed the alternatives of
energy transport, namely via electrical transmission versus
the transformation into a chemical carrier like hydrogen
[34e36]. For the evaluation of the relative competitiveness it is
a crucial assumption whether the energy is demanded as
electrical energy or as hydrogen at the destination of the
transport. In the case that an electricity-to-electricity transmission of energy is realized via hydrogen as energy carrier,
the total efficiency is limited to a maximum of about 40% just
by the efficiency of the electricity to hydrogen and
hydrogen to electricity processes. In contrast, HVDC transmission allows for total efficiencies of up to 90%. However, it is
important to note that this HVDC efficiency value only takes
into account the transport losses in the long-distance transfer
of electric energy and does not take into account the huge
investment into the HVDC infrastructure.
The future share of energy that is needed in the world in
form of hydrogen depends on many factors and cannot be
determined per se. It can be concluded however that an allelectric energy system (consequently with no demand for
chemical energy carriers like hydrogen) appears rather
unrealistic at this date due to the difficulties in storing large
amounts of electric energy. In the contrary, the need for
energy storage is increasing as a consequence of the
increasing share of the unsteady production of renewable
energies from wind or solar. Massive additional capacities in
both wind and solar energy production are currently being
installed in parts of Europe. Hydrogen in the form of LOHC

18126

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

Table 7 e Costs for transmission of electrical energy via High Voltage Direct Current Transmission (HVDC).
Description
Cost assessment

Assumptions

Results

Energy

Cable length
HVDC overhead line cost
HVDC sea cable costs
Share of overhead lines
Terminal costs
Depreciation period
Interest rate
Annuity factor
Capacity factor
Energy losses
Terminal transformation losses
Transported energy
Energy losses
Total investment
Depreciation cost
Value of energy losses
Total costs
Energy consumption

could be stored efficiently in large quantities until it is needed

(day to seasonal storage). It could be used not only for electrical applications but could replace fossil fuels in other
fields, for example in residential heating, mobility or
industry.
Assuming a sufficient demand for hydrogen at the destination of the energy transport, there are two options
regarding the place of hydrogen production from electricity
via electrolysis. This process can either happen in Europe with
electricity being transmitted from Northern Africa via power
lines. Alternatively, the electrolysis could be carried out at the
place of energy production in Northern Africa. In this case,
hydrogen would be the energy transport vector. Hydrogen
transport is considered in the following via LH2 or LOHC,
respectively (Fig. 2).
These two aforementioned concepts are compared in the
following. The total future hydrogen demand for Europe is
very difficult to forecast and depends heavily on the introduction and propagation of hydrogen technologies. In the
following an annual European hydrogen demand of 1 million
tons (33 TWh LHV) is assumed. This amount of hydrogen
would be realistic only for early stages of a hydrogen-based
energy system. Assuming an average annual hydrogen
consumption per fuel cell car of 140 kg (average driving range

Unit
km
MV/1000 km
MV/1000 km
of total length
MV
Years

% per 1000 km
TWh per year
TWh per year
MV
V/kWh/1000 km
V/kWh
V/kWh
kWhx/kWh

HVDC
3100
400
2100
80%
650
30
6.0%
7.3%
50%
2.5%
0.7%
21.9
1.85
2.944
0.0098 V
0.0042 V
0.014 V
8.5%

of 14,000 km, fuel consumption 1 kg H2/100 km), 1 million tons

of hydrogen would be sufficient to power about 7 million cars
which represent only 3% of the whole fleet of vehicles in the
European Union (234 million cars). Consequently overall
hydrogen demand not only for mobility but also for stationary
applications would be much higher. The amount of hydrogen
necessary to supply 10% of the overall primary energy
demand of Europe (76 EJ in 2008 [2]) would be 64 million tons
per year.
As the effects of cost degression play a minor role
regarding the considered dimensions, the mentioned earlyphase scenario of 1 million tons of hydrogen demand is
capable of providing a realistic estimation of feasibility also
for future higher demands.
The transmission capacity which is needed for the aforementioned scenario (1 million tons hydrogen) corresponds
very well to the 2020 scenario of desertec where 60 TWh of
energy are to be exported to Europe via two HVDC lines [17].
One million tons of hydrogen would consequently be equivalent to one of these transmission lines.
For future hydrogen production the efficiency and capital
costs of electrolysis play an important role, especially PEMelectrolysis (polymer electrolyte membrane) has a high
potential [37].

Fig. 2 e Options for energy transfer from Northern Africa to Europe for the purpose of hydrogen production.

18127

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

Table 8 e Cost and energy assessment for the production of hydrogen via electrolysis.
Description
Cost assessment

Assumptions

Results

Energy

Unit

Capital costs
Electricity price
Depreciation period
Interest rate
Annuity factor
Operating hours per year
Operating expenses
Energy consumption
Depreciation cost
Electricity costs
Operating expenses
Total costs
Energy consumption

Table 8 shows assumption and results for the costs and

energy consumption of hydrogen production via electrolysis
[37]. Two different prices for electric energy are assumed that
are relevant for the scenarios that are under consideration in
the following.
The transportation route for LOHC and LH2 consists of the
following steps (shorter distances would be very well possible
depending on the destination):
 4000 km ship transport to relevant ports in Northern Europe
 100 km truck transport in Northern Africa and Europe
combined.
For electric transmission a cable length of 3100 km is
assumed [33], 20% of the distance are via sea cables.

V/kW
V/kWh
Years

Hours
% of capital cost
kWhel/kgHyd
V/kg
V/kg
V/kg
V/kg
kWhx/kWhHyd

Electrolysis
800
0.02

0.05
20
6.00%
8.72%
6000
3%
47

0.55
0.94
0.19
1.67 V
29.79%

0.55
2.35
0.19
3.08 V
29.79%

For all three routes further transportation of the hydrogen

may be necessary depending on the application that it is used
for. As this depends on the chosen scenario assumptions
in equal measure no further distribution is accounted for
(Table 9).
The analysis was performed under some simplifications,
for example there were no detailed considerations for the
exact routes of transport for ships and electric lines. Still the
results give a first indication that energy transport of solar
power from Northern Africa to Europe via LOHC could be an
interesting option to complement the electric transmission of
energy. Besides the costs shown here there are more arguments in favor of a chemical energy transport instead of
electrical transmission that are given in the conclusion
section.

Table 9 e Cost and energy assessment for the transmission of energy from Northern Africa to Europe.
Process steps

Location

Form of energy processed

El. Power
TWh

Electr. Transm.
Export power
HVDC transm. (3100 km)
Electrolysis
Final hydr delivery
Total energy/costs
LH2
Export power
Electrolysis
LH2 liquefaction
LH2 transport
Final hydr delivery
Total energy/costs
LOHC
Export power
Electrolysis
LOHC conditioning
LOHC transport
Final hydr release
Total energy/costs

North Africa
Europe
Europe

51.3
51.3
47

Hydrogen
million tons

1
1

Energy consumption
TWh

Costs
million V

4.3
14

658
3080

18.3 0.55 kWhx/kWh

North Africa
North Africa
North Africa

48.2
48.2

Europe

North Africa
North Africa
North Africa
Europe

47.14
47

1.03
1.03
1.03
1

1
1
1
1

14.4
7.1
7.6

3738 3.74 V/kg

3157
750
1081

29.1 0.88 kWhx/kWh

4988 4.99 V/kg

14
0.363
3.5
0
17.9 0.54 kWhx/kWh

3080
238
495
17
3830 3.83 V/kg

18128

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

Table 10 e Cost and energy assessment for the production of hydrogen in Iceland and transport to Germany (2000 km
scenario).
Process steps

Form of energy processed

El. Power
TWh

LOHC
Export power
Electrolysis
LOHC conditioning
LOHC Transport
Final hydr release
Energy consumption per kWhHyd
Costs per kg Hydrogen

10.00
10.00

The transport of liquid hydrogen via ship is expensive

and inefficient mainly due the high energy consumption
during liquefaction and the limited cargo capacity of the
ship.

4.2.

Import of renewable energy from Iceland

4.2.1.

Evaluation of costs and efficiency

Thanks to its geologically unique position on the tectonically

active Mid-Atlantic ridge, Iceland is able to cover almost all of
its energy consumption from renewable sources. In 2009
about 81% of primary energy and 100% of electricity demand
were satisfied by geothermal and hydroelectric sources. The
geothermal energy is mainly used for heating purposes and
increasingly for electricity production (27% in 2009) while the
remaining 73% come from hydro power, fed mainly from
glaciers [38,39]. Due to its comparably low electricity prices
Iceland has attracted energy-intensive industries, especially
aluminum production which accounts for 74% of Icelands
total electricity consumption (16.2 TWh in 2009). Furthermore, there exists considerable additional potential for
production from renewable energies. According to [38] the
potential for annual geothermal electricity production is
20 TWh and for hydro power 30 TWh, respectively. Only
projects with limited environmental impact have been
considered.
Due to the large distance to consumers in Europe or North
America the electricity market of Iceland is isolated. There is
only a limited number of consumers (318,000 inhabitants)
facing a vast potential for renewable energy generation as
described. As a consequence, electricity prices for industrial
consumers are reported to be far below 3 V-Ct./kWh in
Iceland [40]. Market insiders have even reported about prices
below 1 V-Ct./kWh for the aluminum industry. Wouldnt it
be for the lack of technical solutions for electricity storage
and transport, Iceland could be a successful exporter of
energy.
The following analysis calculates cost and energy
consumption for the transport of energy from Iceland to
Europe via LOHC. Analogous to the LOHC scenario in Chapter
4.1 hydrogen is produced in Iceland and stored in the form of
LOHC. The shortest possible connection to Germany is approx.
2000 km. The basis for the calculation is a net export of
10 TWhs of energy per year. Electricity price is assumed to be
2 Ct./kWh. The results are shown in Table 10.

Assessment of

Hydrogen
million tons

Energy
TWh

0.30
0.30
0.30
0.30

14.2
0.1
0.5
0
5.8%

Costs
million tons

506
72
32
5
2.03 V

Export of clean hydrogen could be an interesting option

for Icelands economy. As Table 10 shows, total cost for
hydrogen production could be around 2 V per kg with energy
prices contributing 0.94 V (assuming 2 V-Ct./kWh electricity),
depreciation and operation of the electrolysis unit 0.74 V and
transport costs of 0.35 V/kg as shown (Fig. 3).

4.2.2. Comparison with hydrogen production from

natural gas
Nowadays hydrogen is almost exclusively produced by steam
reforming of natural gas. In this process 1 kg of hydrogen is
produced from about 4.2 kg of natural gas and 8.9 kg of water.
Also 9.3 kg of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere.
While the worldwide availability of natural gas is relatively
high in comparison to other fossil resources like crude oil,
hydrogen produced from NG is not sustainable for obvious
reasons. Therefore plans exist to produce methane from
hydrogen and carbon dioxide via the Sabatier reaction and to
feed it into the pipeline distribution grid for natural gas. This
so-called Renewable Power Methane (RPM) could cost approx.
8 Ct./kWh (electricity prices of 3e5 Ct./kWh assumed) in the
future [41].
Table 11 shows the costs of hydrogen production via steam
methane reforming based on the actual very low gas price of
3.25 Ct./kWh for natural gas (industry price Germany
2008e2009 [42]) and 8 Ct./kWh for Renewable Power Methane
respectively. Data for capital costs and process parameters are
derived from Linde Engineering [43].

Fig. 3 e Cost contributions for hydrogen produced in

Iceland and imported to Germany via LOHC transport.

18129

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

Table 11 e Cost assessment for the production of hydrogen via steam methane reforming.
Description
Cost assessment

Assumptions

Results

Hydrogen output
Capital costs
Depreciation period
Interest rate
Annuity factor
Natural gas price
Natural gas consumption
CO2 certificate price
Operating hours per year
Operating expenses
Electric energy consumption
Depreciation cost
Natural gas purchasing costs
Electricity costs
CO2 emission cost
Operating expenses
Total costs

The comparison shows that the import of hydrogen

produced from renewable energy in Iceland or other countries
that offer high renewable potential (e.g. Greece, Spain, etc.) via
hydrogen that is stored in LOHC could be an economically
feasible option even in times where natural gas is extremely
cheap.

4.3.

Unit

Grid connection of off-shore wind farms

Alongside with solar power, wind farms are expected to

deliver a significant share of the energy production of the
future. While off-shore wind parks are much more expensive
in investment and maintenance they deliver more energy
more steadily than on-shore parks due to their higher capacity
factor. According to the strategy of the German government,
25,000 MW of wind power should be installed until 2030 in the
German parts of the North and East Sea [44].
The typical distance for these off-shore wind farms to the
shore is around 30e80 km. As a consequence grid connection
is a rather complex and capital intensive task. The first
German Offshore farm Baltic 1 was connected to the main
land via a 150 kV AC line with a total length of 77 km [45]. For
the platform BARD 1, a 200 km HVDC connection (150 kV), the
first German direct current line for the connection of a wind
farm, was built [46].
The installation of off-shore converter stations and underwater sea cables is expensive and technically sophisticated. It is
estimated that about 20e30% of the total project costs for a wind
farm are related to its grid connection [47]. Having installed the
first wind farms some of these companies have given warnings
because of the technical and economic challenges.
Especially for small-to-medium sized wind farms where the
distance to the coast is high, one could also think about an
energy transport based on LOHC. The power generated by wind
turbines could be used to produce hydrogen that could be stored
in LOHC and consequently be collected from ships within
a certain time interval. An alternative could be that the loaded
LOHC stays in the wind farm and produces electricity in calm
times. This would improve the usage of the electrical network.
Additionally, the blade heating in winter times can be done via

Steam methane reforming

Nm /h
million V
years

V/kWh
kWhNG/kWhHyd
V/tons CO2
Hours
% of capital cost
kWhel/kgHyd
V/kg
V/kg
V/kg
V/kg
V/kg
V/kg

67,000
86
20
6.00%
8.72%
0.0325

0.08
1.35
15
8000
3%
0.005
0.16

1.45

3.56
0.01
0.14
0.05

1.80 V

3.92 V

the exothermal hydrogenation reaction. As Table 12 e based on

the existing wind farm Baltic 1 e shows, this facility would
produce approx. 200 tons of loaded LOHC material per day.
The number and allocation of stations as well as the number
and size of ships, etc. would determine the optimal collection
strategy. Assuming e.g. a five-day interval, about 1000 tons of
LOHC material would have to be stored for example on the
platform, which is currently used to house the transformer
station. Another option could be to store the LOHC in the foot of
the wind wheel. Assuming that the 21 wind mills have an inner
diameter of 4 m, a section with the height of 3.8 m would be
sufficient for the above mentioned amount of LOHC substance,
which could then be collected by much smaller ships than those
considered in Section 3.2 of this contribution.
Analogous to the argumentation in the considerations
about energy transport from Northern Africa, one advantage
of this concept is that it would decouple the energy delivery
from the intermittency of the energy production of the wind
farm. Storage of energy in LOHC could therefore contribute to
achieve more stability in the electricity networks.

5.

Discussion of results

Table 13 summarizes the results of the analysis for the

different energy transport options regarding cost and energy
consumption for CGH2, LH2 and LOHC.
These numbers give a first indication that the transport of
energy via LOHC could be a promising alternative. Energy

Table 12 e Hydrogenation of LOHC on off-shore

platforms.
Wind farm Baltic 1
Power output
Annually produced energy
Efficiency of electrolysis
Amount of hydrogen produced per day
Amount of LOHC per day

50
185
70%
11
203

MW
GWh
tons
tons

18130

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

Table 13 e Overview over costs and energy consumption of the described storage and transport processes.

Conditioning
Costs
Energy consumption
Transport e Ship
Cargo H2
1000 km
5000 km

Transport e Truck
Cargo H2
20 km
50 km

CGH2

LH2

LOHC

Compression

Liquefaction

Hydrogenation

[Ct./kg]
[kWhx/kWhHyd]

24
3.5%

73
21.0%

24
1.1%

[tons]
Costs [Ct./(ton km)]
Energy [kWhx/kWhHyd]
Costs [Ct./(ton km)]
Energy [kWhx/kWhHyd]

Not considered

1050
32.6
5.2%
19.5
26.1%

2400
6.1
2.3%
4.4
11.7%

[kg]
Costs [V/(ton km)]
Energy [kWhx/kWhHyd]
Costs [V/(ton km)]
Energy [kWhx/kWhHyd]

500
17.7
0.8%
10.3
2.1%

3500
5.6
0.6%
2.7
0.8%

1500
5.5
0.3%
3.2
0.7%

consumption as well as the costs of transport are rather low in

comparison with LH2 and CGH2 delivery. In particular, longdistance transport via ship seems promising due to the low
cost level and the possibility to use existing fleets of product
tankers. Furthermore these tankers serve as a storage for
a large amount of energy.
Regarding the costs for the provision of hydrogen Fig. 4
summarizes the scenarios that were considered in this
publication. It shows that it could be a technologically and
economically feasible option to produce hydrogen in countries which have a high potential for renewable energy and to
subsequently transport it to Europe via LOHC. Other than
hydrogen production via steam methane reforming no green
house gases are emitted into the atmosphere and no limited
fossil feed stock is being consumed.
Besides these figures there are further arguments that are
in favor of transporting at least a share of the produced energy
in form of a chemical carrier like LOHC:
 Required capital investment
Most of the energy transport concepts that are discussed
for the transformation of our energy system from fossil fuels
to renewable energy require the installation of a completely

new infrastructure. As a consequence the capital investment

that is necessary for implementation is enormous. Two
examples shall be given:
The desertec initiative estimates the total investment
for the HVDC transmission lines from Northern Africa
to Europe with 5 billion V until 2020 (capacity of 60 TWh/year)
and even 45 billion V until 2050 (capacity of 700 TWh/year).
Our actual experience with the existing pipeline grid for
natural gas can give a valuable hint regarding the investment
costs for a comprehensive hydrogen pipeline system. The
International Energy Agency IEA estimates that the investment cost of the American NG pipeline system (1.74 million
km distribution pipeline and 1.05 million km service pipelines,
serving 55 million costumers) is 230 billion USD. Assuming
transport of the same amount of energy (14 ExaJoule per year)
via hydrogen the potential investment would double to 460
billion USD [48]. On a worldwide basis the global gas use of 55
Exajoule would correspond to investment into a hydrogen
pipeline network being worth approx. 2:5  1012 USD.
It is clear that these huge investments could slow down e if
not even rule out e the transition to alternative energy sources. Mutual causation of missing infrastructure and missing
customer, often referred to as the heneegg-problem further
inhibit necessary investments.

Fig. 4 e Overview of hydrogen provision costs for the considered scenarios.

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

A technology like LOHC that can build upon the existing

infrastructure would allow for a steady transition without
exorbitant investments. Regarding for example the transfer of
solar power from Northern Africa to Europe, already existing
ships e preferably product tankers e could be used for LOHC
transport and only the on-shore infrastructure (e.g. for LOHC
loading and unloading in ports) as well as hydrogenation
equipment would need to be modified/installed. Instead of
a very large one-time investment an incremental introduction
of the LOHC technology would be possible.
The same considerations hold true for other means of
transportation e e.g. truck transport, modification of gasoline
stations, train carriers, etc., as well.
 Vulnerability of the energy system
One of the most important aspects of energy supply is the
security and reliability of the system. A lot of people see the
transition to renewable energy as a possibility to improve the
self-supply with energy for some countries which are today
heavily dependent on exports of fossil energy carriers.
The increase of the share of energy that is electric e and
therefore transmitted via electric transmission lines e raises
the vulnerability of the system. This is also a common criticism in disfavor of the Desertec concept: with only a few
transmission lines covering up to 15% of Europes energy
demand in 2050, there would be a certain risk of breakdown of
supply due to technical problems, political reasons or even
criminal activities. Especially with regard to the fact that the
political systems of some of the countries concerned for the
energy transfer are rather fragile.
In contrast, it is very unlikely that the fragmented delivery
of a chemical energy transport by dozens of individual ships
navigating in the open sea (and thus outside of the influence
of individual states) can be completely cut off. The character
of segmentation that comes with the LOHC concept therefore
increases the security of supply and reduces the systems
vulnerability to technical dysfunctions, sabotage or political
arbitrariness.
 Storage capability
Todays energy supply system which is mainly based on
fossil fuels is intrinsically robust because every step of
transportation is time-lagged and therefore acts as an energy
storage capacity. As a consequence energy production must
not match energy demand perfectly at all times but only in
average. Obviously, this important point does not hold for
instant electrical transmission where electricity generation
and consumption must be equivalent at all times.
Consequently, the storage of energy is an important issue
for the stability of the global energy systems. Energy vectors
that per se allow for a temporary storage of energy can
contribute to the stability of energy supply. Solar power from
Northern Africa that is transported to Europe via LOHC could
even help to compensate the fluctuations generated by the
intermittent producing renewable sources that are installed
within Europe. It is noteworthy in this context, that a purely
electrical transmission of energy from North Africa to Europe
cannot fulfill the same task. Due to the fact that North-Africa

18131

has the same dayenight-cycle as Europe it can be expected

that most of the electric energy production there will coincide
with the peak in solar energy production in Europe.

6.

Conclusion

The transition toward renewable energies that we currently

witness is a huge challenge. Renewable sources like wind or
sun can only substitute fossil or nuclear fueled electricity
generation if their intermittent, fluctuating character can be
compensated for example by adequate storage concepts. It
consequently seems very likely today that we will see
a multitude of intertwined technologies and concepts within
our energy system in the future e small and mid-sized
domestic energy production as well as energy imports e.g.
from Northern Africa or Iceland, electrical transmission as
well as chemical storage of energy and hydrogen cars as well
as battery-electric vehicles.

references

[1] 2010 renewable energy data book. U.S. Department of

Energy; 2011.
[2] Birol F. World energy outlook 2010. Paris: IEA (International
Energy Agency); 2010.
[3] Sartbaeva A, Kuznetsov VL, Wells SA, Edwards PP. Hydrogen
Nexus in a sustainable energy future. Energy Environ Sci
2008;1:79e85.
[4] Eberle U, Felderhoff M, Schuth F. Chemische und
physikalische Losungen fur die Speicherung von
Wasserstoff. Angew Chem 2009;121:6732e57.
[5] Muller B, Muller K, Teichmann D, Arlt W. Energiespeicherung
mittels Methan und energietragenden Stoffen e ein
thermodynamischer Vergleich. Chem Ing Tech 2011;83:2002.
[6] Scherer G, Newson E, Wokaun A. Economic analysis of the
seasonal storage of electricity with liquid organic hydrides.
Int J Hydrogen Energy 1999;24:1157e69.
[7] Teichmann D, Arlt W, Wasserscheid P, Freymann R. A future
energy supply based on Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers
(LOHC). Energy Environ Sci 2011;4:2767e73.
[8] Luo W, Campbell PG, Zakharov LN, Liu S. A singlecomponent liquid-phase hydrogen storage material. J Am
Chem Soc 2011;133:19326.
[9] Pradhan AU, Shukla A, Pande JV, Karmakar S, Biniwale RB. A
feasibility analysis of hydrogen delivery system using liquid
organic hydrides. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2011;36:680e8.
[10] Muller K, Stark K, Muller B, Arlt W. Amine borane based
hydrogen carriers: An evaluation. Energy Fuels 2012;226(6):
3691e6.
[11] Pez G, Scott A, Cooper A, Cheng H, Bagzis L, Appleby J. Patent
Hydrogen storage by reversible hydrogenation of piconjugated substrates. International publication number
WO 2005/000457A2; 2005.
[12] Sobota M, Nikiforidis I, Amende M, Sanmartin Zanon B,
Staudt T, Hofert O, et al. Dehydrogenation of DodecahydroN-ethylcarbazole on Pd/Al2O3 model catalysts. Chem Eur J
2011;17:11542.
[13] Sotoodeh F, Huber BJM, Smith KJ. Dehydrogenation kinetics
and catalysis of organic heteroaromatics for hydrogen
storage. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2012;37:2715e22.
[14] Eblagon KM, Rentsch D, Friedrichs O, Remhof A, Zuttel A,
Ramirez-Cuesta AJ, et al. Hydrogenation of 9-ethylcarbazole

18132

[15]
[16]

[17]
[18]

[19]
[20]
[21]

[22]
[23]

[24]

[25]
[26]

[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
[31]

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 8 1 1 8 e1 8 1 3 2

as a prototype of a liquid hydrogen carrier. Int J Hydrogen

Energy 2010;35:11609e21.
Clariant SE. Safety data sheet in accordance with EUregulation Nr. Nr. 453/2010 regarding N-ethylcarbazole; 2011.
Teichmann D, Arlt W, Wasserscheid P. Stabile
Energieversorgung trotz unsteter Erzeugung. Solarzeitalter I
2012.
Desertec Foundation. Clean power from deserts e whitebook;
2009.
Concawe, EUCar, JRC. Well-to-wheels-analysis of future
automotive fuels and powertrains in the European context.
Tank-to-Wheel report; 2007.
Bunkerworld. TWI special report: overview; 2002 to 2010.
Hydrocarbon processing, refining processes handbook; 2010.
Yamaguchi N. Hydrodesulfurization technologies and costs.
Presented at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Sulfur Workshop, Mexico City; 2003.
Uhde Thyssen-Krupp. Project brochure installation of HDA/
HDS unit in Bourgas, Bulgaria; 2010.
Ahluwalia RK, Hua TQ, Peng J-K, Kromer M, Lasher S,
McKenney K, et al. TIAX-report Technical assessment of
organic liquid carrier hydrogen storage systems for
automotive applications; 2011.
Toseland B, Tyndall D, Varma V. DOE hydrogen program
FY2007 annual progress report, III.C.1 reversible liquid
carriers for an integrated production, storage and delivery of
hydrogen; 2007.
Simbeck D, Chang E. NREL report Hydrogen supply: estimate
for hydrogen pathways e scoping analysis; 2002.
Altmann M, Gaus S, Landinger H, Stiller C, Wurster R. Final
report GEO-Studie: Wasserstofferzeugung in OffshoreWindparks. Ludwig-Bolkow Systemtechnik; 2001.
United Nations conference on trade and development,
review of maritime transport; 2006.
MAN Diesel & Turbo, Propulsion trends in Tankers.
Morgan JP. Asia Pacific equity research paper: Asia Pacific
Dry Bulk Shipping; 2008.
Prieur A, Favreau D, Vinot S. Roads2Hy, well to
tank e technology pathways and carbon balance; 2009.
Valentin B. Wirtschaftlichkeitsbetrachtung einer
Wasserstoffinfrastruktur fur Kraftfahrzeuge. University of
Applied Sciences Munich; 2001.

[32] Nexant Inc.. Interim report H2A hydrogen delivery

infrastructure analysis models and conventional pathway
options analysis results; 2008.
[33] Final Report. Trans-Mediterranean interconnection for
concentrating solar power. German Aerospace Center; 2006.
[34] Stiller C, Svensson AM, Moller-Holst S, Bunger U,
Espegren KA, Holm OB, et al. Options for CO2-lean hydrogen
export from Norway to Germany. Energy 2008;33:1623e33.
[35] Wietschel M, Hasenauer U. Feasibility of hydrogen corridors
between the EU and neighbouring countries. Renew Energy
2007;32:2129e46.
[36] Kaske G, Schmidt P, Kanngieer KW. Comparison between
high-voltage direct current transmission and hydrogen
transport. Int J Hydrogen Energy 1991;16:105e14.
[37] Smolinka T, Gunther M, Garche J. Stand und
Entwicklungspotential der Wasserelektrolyse zur Herstellung
von Wasserstoff aus regenerativen Quellen. NOW-Studie 2010.
[38] Bardadottir H, Sturludottir LK. Energy in Iceland. 2nd ed.;
2006.
[39] Eggertson H, Thorsteinsson I, Ketilsson J, Loftsdottir A.
Energy statistics in Iceland 2010; 2010.
[40] Arnarson H. Iceland 2025: diverse industries, submarine cable
and green revenue. Landsvirkjun Annual Meeting; 2011.
[41] Sterner Michael. Bioenergy and renewable power methane in
integrated 100% renewable energy systems. In: Schmid Jurgen,
editor. Renewable energies and energy efficiency; 2009.
[42] German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
Energiedaten; 2011.
[43] Linde Engineering. Product presentation about steam
methane reforming. Personal correspondence; 2010.
[44] Raumordnungsplan fur die deutsche ausschlieliche
Wirtschaftszone; 2009.
[45] Kamm V. Company information: Erneuerbare Energien
nutzbar machen-der Netzanschluss des Windparks EnBW
Baltic 1 in der Ostsee. 50Hertz Offshore GmbH; 2010.
[46] Transpower Stromubertragungs GmbH. Company
information Chancen der Energiegewinnung aus OffshoreAnlagen sowie deren Bau; 2009.
[47] German Energy Agency. Information Offshore-Netze: Die
Netzanbindung der Offshore-Windparks; 2009.
[48] International Energy Agency. Energy technology analysis:
prospects for hydrogen and fuel cells; 2005.