Roadmapping the development of a green hydrogen industrial port complex

Abstract

The Paris Agreement was created in an effort to enhance the global response to the issue of climate change. To reach this goal, greenhouse gas emissions must be at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and the temperature rise must be kept below 2 degrees Celsius this century. Moreover, the recent fossil fuel price increases, are pressing eye-openers to the geopolitical dependency on a small number of nations and mark the urgency of the energy transition.

Hydrogen generation as a means of energy distribution and storage is argued to be a viable solution to this challenge because this flexible energy carrier can be produced by any energy source and can be converted into various energy forms. The energy carrier is believed to be critical for decarbonising heavy industries, heating, and transportation.

Although hydrogen can be produced from a variety of energy sources, the only long-term key to facilitating the energy transition and establishing a new green economy would be through the electrolysis of water, fueled by renewable energy. To be economically viable, the energy would have to be provided at a large scale and at a competitive price. This makes it a global endeavour, requiring cross-border collaboration to create international supply chains.

With its potential to generate an abundance of wind energy, geothermal energy, and hydropower, Iceland is exploring its opportunity to produce hydrogen for its domestic markets and export markets. Therefore, this research is taking the Icelandic situation as a case study.

A lack of infrastructure to create, store, and transport hydrogen in significant amounts is one of the obstacles to developing the hydrogen economy. Infrastructure development needs effective coordination and substantial expenditures. In this sense, port authorities play a crucial role in bringing together all the relevant parties in the supply chain. However, creating a long-term plan to convince investors and other decision-makers presents a hurdle. The creation of a port master plan is constrained by numerous uncertainties, limited technological knowledge, and unknown social needs. There is a need for strategically roadmapping the port development process and thus structuring the decision-making process. So far, no hydrogen industrial port complex has been built and no studies have been performed about systematic thinking for the purpose of generating the possible pathways to develop such a system.

Through a single-case and practice-oriented design research methods, this research performs a SWOT analysis to determine influencing factors in developing a hydrogen industrial port complex in Iceland. This leads to the creation of an eight-phase Integrated Hydrogen Port Development-framework to narrow the knowledge gap as described above. Ultimately, this research also describes a narrative that describes practical recommendations for the Fjarðabyggð port master plan.