This is a legacy website covering the VB (2014-2020) North Sea Region Programme.

HyTrEc2

UiT publishes updated HyTrEc2 Supply Chain Map

23 September 2023 - Published by Kraftvaerk

At the start of the HyTrEc2 project, Pale Blue Dot Energy (now Storegga), an energy consultancy firm, provided HyTrEc2 with a detailed hydrogen supply chain map for the purpose of assessing and developing the hydrogen supply chain engagement by HyTrEc2 partners in the North Sea region. In this report, the region is defined by the countries where the HyTrEc2 partners are based, that is Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. In addition, four ways of promoting the hydrogen supply chain growth were identified as follows:

1. growing existing regional hydrogen supply chain businesses

2. diversifying existing regional companies into hydrogen

3. bringing existing hydrogen players to the region

4. stimulating new hydrogen businesses in the region.

UiT has now undertake an update of the HyTrEc2 Supply Chain to identify how the above-mentioned four ways have contributed to the outputs of the HyTrEc2 project and the development of the hydrogen supply chain based on a revised version of the hydrogen supply chain map provided by Pale Blue Dot Energy.

Given that hydrogen is an energy carrier, the development of its supply chain is dependent on other factors such as the source and distribution of energy to the hydrogen production site. To cover the entirety of the hydrogen supply chain, this report considers it important to include entities that are involved in producing energy (01), supplying the feedstock for hydrogen production (02), providing the infrastructure for energy distribution (03). The category, “10 Technology provider” has been added to distinguish the entities involved in providing hydrogen-related technologies from those that provide other support services like engineering, legal and financial services. This gives rise to a 10-category hydrogen supply chain as below:

Given the focus of the project, it is unsurprising that the supply chain is mostly concentrated on the downstream end, which is the end-user applications. To develop the FCEV market in the NSR, further engagement with upstream actors is recommended to overcome the notorious “chicken-and-egg” dilemma. Upstream actors include renewable energy producers, hydrogen producers, hydrogen storage and distribution suppliers. 

While there has been some success in stimulating new H2 entities in the region, by far the most influential have been the growth of existing hydrogen enterprises and the diversification of the existing supply chain into hydrogen. An example of entities engaged: undefined

 The full report can be seen here.