A Techno-economic Analysis of Cross-regional Renewable Hydrogen Supply Routes in China

The cross-regional renewable hydrogen supply is significant for China to resolve the uneven distribution of renewable energy and decarbonize the transportation sector. Yet the economic comparison of various hydrogen supply routes remains obscure. This paper conducts a techno-economic analysis on six hydrogen supply routes for hydrogen refueling stations, including gas-hydrogen tube-trailer, gas-hydrogen pipeline, liquid-hydrogen truck, natural gas pipeline, MeOH truck, and NH3 truck. Furthermore, the impacts of three critical factors are examined, including electrolyzer selection, transportation distance, and electricity price. The results indicate that, with a transport distance of 2000 km, the natural gas pipeline route offers the lowest cost, while the gas-hydrogen tube-trailer route is not economically feasible. The gas-hydrogen pipeline route shows outstanding cost competitiveness between 200 and 2000 km, while it is greatly influenced by the utilization rate. The liquid-hydrogen truck route demonstrates great potential with the electricity price decreasing. This study may provide guidance for the development of the cross-regional renewable hydrogen supply for hydrogen refueling stations in China.