Why delivered costs understate prices in an integrated global hydrogen market

Bastian Wei{\ss}enburger, Martin Wietschel, Patrick Pl\"otz and Russell McKenna

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Abstract: Delivered-cost estimates are often used as proxies for hydrogen import prices. Yet they measure average supply-chain costs, whereas marginal prices measure the system value of an additional unit. Market interactions can make the two diverge, potentially biasing long-term price assumptions. We quantify this gap using an 81-region global hydrogen-market model, comparing each region's costs and prices when only its demand is active and when all regions' demands are active. The 2045 price-cost gap is positive in 78 regions and averages 63 EUR/MWh (52% of the single-buyer cost) on a demand-weighted basis. Only 12 EUR/MWh reflects higher average sourcing costs due to competing demand. The remaining 51 EUR/MWh is the difference between the global-market price and the delivered portfolio's average cost. In several regions, wholesale prices rise while average delivered costs fall. Hydrogen strategies should distinguish delivered-cost benchmarks from market-price expectations, as low-cost supply does not guarantee low regional market prices.

Date: 2026-10
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