Hydrogen pipelines need open access: SoCalGas

State and federal regulating bodies should work together to establish an "open access" regulatory structure for hydrogen pipelines, Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) senior business development director Yuri Freedman told Argus.

Such policies would allow any shipper able to pay the operator's rates and meet its terms of service to use the infrastructure, which would support the "deep and liquid market" hydrogen will need to become a widely adopted commodity, Freedman said.

"A pipeline is the lowest cost and safest way to move hydrogen over long distances," Freedman said. SoCalGas is working on its proposed dedicated hydrogen pipeline system, the "Angeles Link" — the type of project that the market will need in the long run, he said.

But dedicated hydrogen pipelines can coexist with hydrogen blending projects, like the trial SoCalGas proposed to conduct with the University of California, Irvine, with an eye toward establishing a safe blending standard for the state. Pure hydrogen pipelines will take time to build, and blending can support producers while infrastructure catches up, Freedman said. In the longer-term hydrogen could be extracted from the gas at its destination, he added.

There are no dedicated long-haul hydrogen pipelines in California today, so hydrogen trucking may be a reasonable option to start bringing hydrogen to market, Freedman said. Trucks carrying liquid hydrogen could also be one answer to the question of last mile delivery.

SoCalGas will examine alternatives of hydrogen delivery solutions more closely this year as part of the pipeline's feasibility study it was encouraged to commence by the California Public Utilities Commission late last year.

The study will aim to identify potential locations in California — which Freedman said is "blessed with abundant renewable resources" — that could host hydrogen production clusters. The firm will also examine water access issues in the drought-affected state, looking beyond the use of purified water to include options like gray water and wastewater, he added.

By Emmeline Willey