Hydrogen Hubs: A Review of Techno-Economic Advancements
Gaydaa ALZOHBI, Deepanraj BALAKRISHNAN
Abstract: Hydrogen hubs play a central role in the worldwide shift of the energy system. The present study performs a techno economic assessment of hubs that unite all hydrogen activities. The assessment measures how costs behave, whether money can be earned and how far the system can expand along the full chain – production, storage, distribution plus final use. For each production route it calculates the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen – it also shows how different ways to store and to move the product alter that cost. Results indicated that gray hydrogen is the cheapest but is becoming more vulnerable to carbon pricing. Blue hydrogen is viewed as a transitional solution despite the critical debate about its environmental impact caused by fugitive methane emissions and the effectivity of carbon capture and storage (CCS). Green hydrogen is the most expensive pathway, but its LCOH is anticipated to attain a cost parity with fossil fuel, owing to the decrease of the cost of renewable energy and electrolyser, and the rise of government incentives. Regarding the hydrogen transportation, results showed that the most economical option to transport hydrogen for a large scale, and large distance is the pipelines, serving specific, niche applications. The paper highlights the importance of a strategic combination of technological innovation, robust policy support, and favorable geographical factors to achieve a successful deployment of hydrogen hubs.
Keywords
Hydrogen Hubs, Techno-Economic Analysis, Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH), Hydrogen Pathways, Hydrogen Transportation and Distribution
Published online 4/25/2026, 11 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Gaydaa ALZOHBI, Deepanraj BALAKRISHNAN, Hydrogen Hubs: A Review of Techno-Economic Advancements, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 64, pp 778-788, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904091-97
The article was published as article 97 of the book Energy Futures
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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