Global and Regional Pipeline Transportation for Hydrogen and Ammonia Market Value and Segmentation Analysis

1. Global Pipeline Transportation for Hydrogen and Ammonia Market Summary

The global Pipeline Transportation for Hydrogen and Ammonia market is expected to continue to grow. The market value is expected to reach $534.41 million in 2024, showing significant growth from 2024 to 2029 with a CAGR of 22.80% from 2024 to 2029. This growth reflects the increasing importance of hydrogen and ammonia as energy carriers in the global energy transition, particularly driven by the goal of carbon neutrality. Pipeline Transportation for Hydrogen and Ammonia refers to the long-distance transportation of hydrogen ammonia liquid or gas through a pipeline system (pipeline) to a market area for consumption.

Global Pipeline Transportation for Hydrogen and Ammonia Market Revenue

2.Market Dynamics

Drivers

In the century upsurge of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, all countries in the world are actively looking for the next generation of energy technologies. Hydrogen energy has the advantages of green, high efficiency, no carbon emission and wide application range. Hydrogen energy is called “the ultimate clean energy”, Harnessing hydrogen energy is one of the most feasible ways to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, because it produces only water when burned and does not emit carbon dioxide. Ammonia energy is a new energy based on ammonia. It can not only be integrated with hydrogen energy to solve the major bottleneck problem of hydrogen energy development but also can be used as direct or indirect carbon-free fuel. technical route. Compared with hydrogen energy, ammonia energy has obvious advantages in storage and transportation. In the sixth edition of Japan’s energy strategic plan released in October 2021, the concept of ammonia energy was introduced, and it was proposed that by 2030, the electricity produced by the use of hydrogen and ammonia would account for 1% of Japan’s energy consumption. Hydrogen and ammonia pipeline transportation is inseparable from the development of hydrogen and ammonia. The global investment in hydrogen energy and ammonia energy has increased, which will promote the development of the hydrogen and ammonia pipeline transportation market to a certain extent. Among all current hydrogen energy transportation schemes, pipeline hydrogen transportation has irreplaceable economics under large-scale and long-distance conditions, and is the preferred and realistic option to solve the problem of large-scale and low-cost hydrogen energy transportation. Pipeline transportation is divided into two categories: gaseous pipeline transportation and liquid pipeline transportation. At present, the total length of this type of pipeline has exceeded 16,000km, and it is mainly distributed in the United States, Canada and Europe. Pipeline transportation has the characteristics of large transportation volume, long distance and low energy loss, which is the driving force for the development of pipeline transportation market. Pipeline transportation is also an inevitable trend of hydrogen and ammonia economic scale.

Limitations

The transportation of hydrogen occupies a large proportion of the economy and energy consumption performance of the entire hydrogen energy supply chain. At present, the main ways of transporting hydrogen are through container transportation, long-tube trailers, and pipeline transportation. Among them, containerized transportation is adopted, with slightly more long-tube trailers and fewer pipelines; the main problem facing the construction of hydrogen pipelines is on the one hand, whether to plan and build long-distance hydrogen pipelines requires huge hydrogen demand; on the other hand, in terms of hydrogen demand, only when the price of hydrogen and the When the storage and transportation costs are low, the demand will increase significantly. The two are difficult to coordinate. Containerized transportation and long-tube trailers are currently the main methods of hydrogen transportation, which have hindered the pipeline transportation market to a certain extent.

High application cost is the main factor restricting the current development and large-scale application of hydrogen energy. How to reduce storage and transportation costs has become the key to the large-scale application of hydrogen, and pipeline hydrogen transportation is the most concerned solution. The current difficulties faced by pipeline hydrogen transportation mainly include construction costs. According to data, the cost of natural gas pipelines in the United States is US$125,000-500,000/km, but the cost of hydrogen pipelines is about US$300,000-1 million/km, which is several times the cost of natural gas pipelines. The second is the problem of pipeline hydrogen damage. Hydrogen embrittlement failure of pipeline materials, hydrogen leakage, and hydrogen-induced cracking bulge are the main problems that need to be paid attention to in the transformation of pure hydrogen pipelines and natural gas pipelines. The hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of different strength steels is different. It is necessary to determine the corresponding hydrogen doping ratio according to the pipeline material and pressure level. At the same time, the equipment and facilities should be transformed to improve the air tightness and hydrogen embrittlement resistance. High construction costs and pipeline hydrogen damage issues are the major factors hindering the development of the hydrogen pipeline transportation market.

3.Market Segment

By Type

The Pipeline Transportation for Hydrogen and Ammonia market is segmented into transmission pipelines, distribution pipelines, and gathering pipelines. In 2024, the market value of transmission pipelines is expected to reach $306.69 million, distribution pipelines $132.00 million, and gathering pipelines $95.72 million. These increases are mainly due to the increased market demand for hydrogen and ammonia as energy carriers, as well as the need for more efficient and environmentally friendly means of energy transportation.

Pipelines play a vital role in the oil, gas, chemical, water treatment, and other industries worldwide. The large demand for pipelines in these industries has promoted the development of the transportation pipeline market. With the progress of material science and technology, the material of the pipeline has gradually expanded from traditional steel to composite materials, special alloys, and even ceramics to cope with the transportation needs of higher temperatures and more corrosive media, and these technological innovations have improved the performance and application range of the pipeline. The development of intelligent pipeline technologies, such as built-in sensors and remote monitoring systems, has improved the operational efficiency and safety of pipelines, while also promoting preventive maintenance of pipelines, and the application of these technologies has increased the market appeal of transportation pipelines.

The development of future pipelines will pay more attention to intelligence and environmental protection. Environmentally friendly materials and green pipeline design will become mainstream, such as the use of biodegradable materials and the reduction of carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of pipelines, in line with global carbon reduction targets.

By Application

Hydrogen and ammonia are the two main downstream applications for pipeline transportation. In 2024, the application market value of hydrogen is expected to reach $154.73 million, and the application market value of ammonia is expected to reach $379.68 million. These increases are mainly due to the expanding use of hydrogen and ammonia in the fields of energy, chemicals, and clean fuels.

Synthetic ammonia technology has been successfully developed and industrialized production has been achieved in the early 20th century. As the second largest chemical in the world, synthetic ammonia has a complete industrial chain structure and a mature international production and trade system, which provides a solid industrial foundation for ammonia pipeline transportation. Ammonia has great potential in new markets such as power fuels, clean electricity, and hydrogen storage carriers. Under the dual-carbon strategy, ammonia will build an ammonia energy system, which is of great significance for the development of a low-carbon society. Ammonia gas can be liquefied at room temperature (25℃) under pressure of 0.8 ~ 1.2MPa, and it is very convenient and economical to store and transport ammonia in the form of liquid ammonia. It is expected that by 2050, a global ammonia supply network chain with a scale of hundreds of millions of tons will be built, and the global ammonia energy maritime shipping system with ammonia-powered ships as the main body will be rapidly developed. Under the background of the globalization of ammonia energy, the ammonia storage and transportation pipeline system with the characteristics of large volume, safety and reliability, strong continuity, and low energy consumption will usher in a new development opportunity.

Market Value and Share by Segmnet in 2024

4.Regional Market

North America is the largest Pipeline Transportation for the Hydrogen and Ammonia market with a market share of 50.88% in 2024, followed by Europe with a market share of 32.78%. The China market is also growing and is expected to reach $51.19 million by 2024. The market growth in these regions is driven by economic development, increasing downstream demand, and technological advancements.

The United States has the world’s largest natural gas transmission and distribution network system, which is highly integrated across all states. This network includes a large number of natural gas pipeline systems, compressor yards, underground gas storage, import and export sites, and other supplies to most major natural gas markets in the United States. Increasing investment in infrastructure and construction activities in North America, especially in the United States, has triggered retrofit activities that have increased the demand for pipelines. The increase in the usage of pipes for domestic and commercial purposes has become a potential market driver for the market, and the increase in renovation and retrofit activities has also increased the sales and profits of market players. North America is one of the leading natural gas exporting regions, and rising energy demand and growing natural gas applications are driving the North American natural gas pipeline infrastructure market. The United States has the highest natural gas production capacity, followed by Canada and Mexico, which drives the demand in the pipeline transportation market. The shale gas revolution has driven rapid growth in US natural gas production, which has the potential to continue at low gas prices. At the same time, due to the slowing growth of natural gas consumption in the United States, the export potential of natural gas in North America is expected to reach 1600×10^8 cubic meters, and the export facility capacity can meet future export demand.

Ammonia is an important nitrogen fertilizer, “fertilizer ammonia” used in nitrogen fertilizer accounted for nearly 70% of the total ammonia consumption in China, while ammonia is an important inorganic chemical or organic chemical basic raw material for the production of ammonium, dyes, explosives, various synthetic materials, and other “industrial ammonia” accounted for nearly 30% of the total ammonia consumption in China. Based on the mature ammonia industry in China, the ammonia transportation and distribution system is relatively mature, which provides conditions for large-scale and long-distance ammonia pipeline transportation. China is a major producer and consumer of ammonia, and its nitrogen fertilizer consumption ranks first in the world. China’s textile industry has also benefited from ammonia’s power. Liquid ammonia is widely used for tanning leather, and dyes are also widely used for dyeing textiles. Liquid ammonia plays an important role in the development of synthetic fibers. The ammonia solution can dye the fabric almost any color. In addition, the use of ammonia as a green fuel alternative is increasing in India and China.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to environmental protection and the development of the new energy industry and has formulated a series of policies and measures to encourage the use of clean energy such as ammonia. These policies not only provide a good development environment for the ammonia industry, but also guide enterprises to increase investment in research and development, promote technological innovation, and improve product added value and market competitiveness.

Global  Pipeline Transportation for Hydrogen and Ammonia  Market Value by Region (M USD)

5.Market Competition

The global Pipeline Transportation for Hydrogen and Ammonia market is highly concentrated, and the market share of the top three companies (Siemens, Emerson Electric Company, ABB LTD.) in 2024 is 51.96%. This shows that the market is dominated by a few large players, which have strong competitiveness and influence in the global market.

Siemens: Siemens offers a comprehensive product portfolio for the digital transformation of factories. Industry-specific scalable solutions and products for electrification, automation, and digitalization enable customers to leverage existing and future data to improve their competitiveness in current and new markets.

Emerson: Emerson (NYSE: EMR), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global technology and engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and residential markets. Emerson has approximately 86,700 employees. Accurately, safely, and efficiently move and handle products while responding to customer and market demands.

ABB: ABB is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. ABB provides safe, secure, and reliable operations by being an innovative partner with the best services and the best people with the strongest domain knowledge. ABB is changing the world by enabling safe, smart, and sustainable operations with integrated solutions that digitize, automate, and electrify the energy industry.

Alstom SA: Leading societies to a low-carbon future, Alstom develops and markets mobility solutions that provide sustainable foundations for the future of transportation. The role of Alstom is not only to provide rolling stock, services, and maintenance but also to offer mobility solutions to a world in profound transformation.

Major Players Market Share