Evaluation of hydrogen shipping cost for potential trade routes
摘要
Shipping is a critical component of international hydrogen (H2) supply chains. H2 can be shipped in various forms or carriers, including cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2), liquid ammonia, methanol, dibenzyl toluene (DBT), and methylcyclohexane (MCH). To compare the costs associated with shipping H2 in different forms or carriers, this paper develops a model to evaluate the levelised H2 shipping costs on potential international routes. The H2 shipping cost includes the storage and operational costs incurred at the export port and the sea transportation, considering the case of using shore tanks and ships with a capacity of 100,000 cubic meters to store and transport different H2 forms or carriers. The results indicate that methanol has the lowest H2 shipping cost among all H2 forms or carriers, followed by liquid ammonia, LH2, DBT, and MCH. Additionally, the Australia-East/Southeast Asia and West Africa-Europe routes have more competitive H2 shipping costs when compared to the Australia-Europe, South America-Europe, Middle East-East Asia, and Middle East-Europe routes. This paper suggests that H2 shipping costs are sensitive to ship and terminal tank capacities, and boil-off gas rates of ship tanks if using LH2 as a H2 transport form. The novelty of the paper lies in the developed generic evaluation model, which aids stakeholders in efficiently evaluating hydrogen shipping costs against various scenarios that fit their own interest.