Hydrogen Pipeline Costs May Be Underestimated: New Study Compares New Builds vs Repurposed Gas Lines

New research from the University of Wyoming, published in Nature Communications, finds that conventional models underestimate the construction cost of hydrogen pipelines in the United States. The authors built an integrated model using historical U.S. construction data, engineering performance, financing, and life cycle emissions. They compared dedicated hydrogen pipelines with repurposed natural gas pipelines and found that repurposing cuts upfront capital costs but can create tradeoffs in lifecycle emissions and operating constraints. Levelized hydrogen transport costs vary by corridor, capacity, and distance, so there is no single national price for moving hydrogen. That matters for federal hydrogen hubs and clean hydrogen tax credits, because infrastructure decisions made now will lock in assets for decades. The study gives planners a more realistic basis for choosing between pipelines, trucking, ammonia shipping, or on-site production.