Review of hydrogen infrastructure: The current status and roll-out strategy

The current status of the hydrogen supply infrastructure was investigated to understand progress toward the realization of a hydrogen society. We also tried to help develop a proper strategy for the soft landing of the hydrogen industry by analyzing the roll-out strategy in Korea, one of the first movers into the hydrogen industry. First, the hydrogen supply infrastructure was analyzed. 96% of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, with the steam methane reforming method being the most widely used. Hydrogen is usually stored in compressed gas form and transported to refueling stations to consumer via tube trailers or pipelines depending on the delivery distance. Next, the characteristics of the hydrogen infrastructure in countries were examined. Each country tries to produce and supply hydrogen by utilizing existing industrial facilities. The USA and Japan produce hydrogen via natural gas (NG) reforming over 90% and transport the gas using exited pipelines. While the EU produces hydrogen from renewable energy sources, and considering importing the gas from EU members. Finally, we introduced a roll-out strategy for Korea as guidelines for second-mover countries. Korea mainly produces hydrogen as a by-product in existing liquid NG facilities, as well as importing liquefied hydrogen from abroad. Since most hydrogen is transported via pipelines, it is unevenly distributed across the country. Attempts at solving this imbalance in the supply of hydrogen will be by applying hydrogen extractors in local plants or developing electrolysis technologies. The Korean government offers subsidies to encourage the participation of private companies to expand the installation of hydrogen refueling stations. Through the supports, the government try to decrease the price of hydrogen gas to 2500 won/kg until 2050. Our findings provide the current status of hydrogen society development and can be used to suggest guidelines for the development of proper hydrogen-fueling strategies for countries.