Thursday 20 April was the first of a two-day inauguration event, gathering international energy professionals around a seminar and networking event on the theme ‘Act now: towards a secured decarbonised energy future’. The occasion also enabled DNV’s global pipelines experts from the group’s various Technology Centres in Groningen, Spadadem, Oslo, Bergen and Columbus, to present a new white paper ‘Repurposing onshore pipelines for hydrogen: Guiding operators through the re-evaluation process’. This study, intended for both industry and regulators, explores current standards and challenges, and presents a new process to assess the safety and feasibility of repurposing natural gas pipelines for hydrogen based on rigorous evaluation.

“As hydrogen is a crucial element to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors, we expect that it will make up 15% of the energy mix in Europe by 2050, but scaling hydrogen value chains will only happen if we suitably manage safety risk and public acceptance, and that’s where we come in” adds Prajeev Rasiah. “We are committed to helping the energy industry to repurpose pipelines safely and effectively, and we are heavily involved in research, collaboration, and projects towards this aim. Together with industry and authorities, we aim to overcome the challenge of repurposing natural gas pipelines to transport hydrogen, removing a significant barrier to the scaling of hydrogen as an essential low-carbon energy carrier.”

Read the latest issue of World Pipelines magazine for pipeline news, project stories, industry insight and technical articles.

World Pipelines’ April 2023 issue

The April 2023 issue of World Pipelines includes a keynote section on compliance and standards, and technical articles on damage and defect assessment, pipeline maintenance and offshore operations