Regional carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) networks and hydrogen logistics networks require more than individual facilities. They require a clearly defined system architecture that establishes how the network is organised, how its components relate, and how its development is intended to proceed.
Novonanmek Material Sciences Pvt. Ltd. addresses this foundational requirement through two architecture standards: HOPT-AS for regional CCUS networks and HLAS for hydrogen logistics networks.
By answering fundamental infrastructure questions at the system level, these standards establish the structural foundation around which regional networks can be developed.
The Role of System Architecture: Defining the System Before Developing Its Components
The Regional Infrastructure Challenge:
Individual infrastructure projects may each have a defined purpose, technical configuration and investment rationale. However, when multiple projects are intended to form a regional network, fundamental questions arise.
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What is the system intended to achieve?
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Where should its boundaries lie?
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How should its components and participants relate to one another?
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What topology should govern the network?
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How should participation, interfaces and responsibilities be structured?
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How can the network expand without losing its defining characteristics?
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What provisions are needed to manage dependencies, risks and change over time?
These questions concern the architecture of the infrastructure system as a whole, rather than the detailed design of individual facilities.
Without a defined system architecture, projects risk progressing without a sufficiently clear common structure connecting them into a coherent regional network.
Novonanmek addresses this system-level requirement by defining the architecture around which infrastructure development can be organised.
What Is System Architecture?
System architecture establishes the intended structure of a regional infrastructure network. It provides qualitative and structural answers to the fundamental questions that arise when a network is conceived.
Depending on the infrastructure domain, architecture defines:
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System purpose and boundaries: What the system is intended to achieve and what constitutes the system.
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Topology and configuration: How the network is structured and how its constituent elements are arranged.
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Relationships and interfaces: How components, facilities and participants are intended to connect and interact.
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Participation and responsibilities: How stakeholders engage with the network and where responsibilities lie.
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Scalability and development: How infrastructure and participation can evolve within the intended architecture.
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Governance and lifecycle integrity: How the defining characteristics of the system are to be maintained as it develops.
Architecture establishes the structural framework within which the constituent infrastructure can be assessed, designed and developed.
Structural Answers, Not Mathematical Outcomes
System architecture addresses fundamental infrastructure questions through qualitative and structural definitions, rather than mathematical outcomes or quantitative proofs of feasibility.
It defines the intended organisation of the regional system: its boundaries, topology, component relationships, participation principles, responsibilities and provisions for development over time.
Engineering and technical analyses, quantitative modelling, capacity assessments, financial evaluations and commercial assessments serve a different but essential purpose. They examine the feasibility, performance, costs, investment requirements and development options of individual projects and infrastructure components.
These assessments are undertaken in the context of the defined system architecture.
The architecture provides the system-level foundation against which project configurations and development options can be evaluated. This allows individual projects to be considered in relation to the intended regional network, rather than solely as isolated facilities.
Architecture does not predetermine the results of these assessments or guarantee that a particular project will prove feasible. Technical, commercial, financial, safety and regulatory requirements must still be addressed through their respective studies and processes.
The distinction is fundamental: architecture defines the intended system; engineering and financial analyses assess the projects and configurations through which that system may be realised.
Where System Architecture Fits in Infrastructure Development
System architecture belongs at the beginning of regional network development, after the regional need or intent has been identified but before the detailed development of the constituent infrastructure projects.
At this stage, the fundamental questions about the intended system must be addressed. HOPT-AS or HLAS provides the relevant architecture-level response for its respective infrastructure domain.
The resulting architecture establishes a defined structural basis for proceeding to detailed assessment and development.
System architecture provides the structural green signal to proceed.
This green signal means that the intended system has been structurally defined and that subsequent development can be organised in relation to that architecture. It does not mean that technical feasibility, commercial viability, financial justification or regulatory approval has already been established.
The development sequence is:
Regional need and conception → System architecture → Engineering, technical, commercial and financial assessments within that architecture → Project implementation → Regional network
The architecture is not simply inferred from individual projects after they have been designed. It provides the foundation around which those projects are planned, assessed and developed.
The Two Sytem Architectures
Two Infrastructure Domains. Two Distinct Architecture Standards.
Novonanmek has developed two architecture standards addressing different regional infrastructure requirements. Both apply system architecture to the organisation and development of regional networks, but their scopes and specific provisions differ.
HOPT-AS: Hub-Only Pipeline Topology Architecture Standard
Architecture for Regional Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage Networks
HOPT-AS establishes a hub-only pipeline topology for regional CCUS infrastructure.
Its defining architectural principle is the separation of emitters from the gaseous carbon dioxide (CO₂) transportation pipeline network. Under the architecture, emitters participate through solid-carbon logistics, while the handling and pipeline transportation of gaseous CO₂ are concentrated at designated hubs.
The standard defines the intended relationships between emitters, hubs and associated infrastructure, providing a structural basis for shared infrastructure and phased participation within the prescribed topology.
HOPT-AS addresses the architecture of the regional CCUS system, including:
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The governing hub-only pipeline topology.
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System boundaries and relationships between participating elements.
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The structural basis for participation and shared infrastructure.
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Provisions supporting phased deployment and scalable participation.
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Architectural integrity as the network develops.
HOPT-AS establishes the intended system-level topology. It does not replace detailed pipeline engineering, facility design, project-specific safety analysis, capacity assessment, financial evaluation or regulatory approvals.
Its role is to define the architecture around which a regional CCUS network can be developed.
HLAS: Hydrogen Logistics Architecture Standard
Architecture for Regional Hydrogen Logistics Networks
HLAS addresses the system architecture of hydrogen logistics across production, aggregation, transportation, storage, distribution and export.
It establishes Architecture Classes, architectural principles, building blocks, topology rules, system boundaries and stakeholder responsibilities. Together, these provisions define the intended structure around which hydrogen logistics infrastructure can be organised and developed.
HLAS addresses:
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The configuration and boundaries of the hydrogen logistics system.
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The relationships between production, aggregation, transportation, storage, distribution and export.
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The roles and responsibilities of participating stakeholders.
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The structural basis for phased development, scalability and adaptation.
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The preservation of defining architectural characteristics as the system evolves.
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The relationship between infrastructure development and aggregated or demonstrable demand, including concerns about premature development.
HLAS establishes the system architecture for hydrogen logistics. It does not replace detailed engineering, technology selection, commercial arrangements, financial feasibility studies, safety assessments or regulatory frameworks.
Its role is to define the architecture around which hydrogen logistics infrastructure can be developed.
A Common Architectural Foundation
HOPT-AS and HLAS address distinct infrastructure domains. Their specific provisions are not interchangeable.
Their common purpose is to answer fundamental infrastructure questions at the system level and establish a structural foundation for the development of coherent regional networks.
Who Should Use the Standards and When?
For Those Who Conceive, Plan, Develop and Coordinate Regional Infrastructure
Novonanmek's architecture standards are relevant to organisations and professionals involved in the conception, planning, development, coordination and governance of regional CCUS and hydrogen logistics networks.
Infrastructure Developers and Project Sponsors
Why it matters: A defined architecture provides a common structural reference for understanding how individual projects fit into the intended regional system.
When to use it: At the conception of a regional network, before detailed project configurations are developed, and when considering subsequent expansion or changes to the system.
Industrial Emitters and CCUS Participants
Why it matters: HOPT-AS defines the intended hub-only pipeline topology and the relationships between emitters, hubs and associated infrastructure.
When to use it: When considering participation in a proposed regional CCUS network and evaluating how an industrial facility is intended to relate to the wider system.
Hydrogen Producers and Logistics Operators
Why it matters: HLAS defines the intended relationships among the activities and infrastructure involved in hydrogen logistics, from production to distribution and export.
When to use it: When conceiving a hydrogen logistics network, planning infrastructure interfaces, defining participation and responsibilities, or considering phased development.
Regional Infrastructure Planners and Coordinating Institutions
Why it matters: A defined architecture provides a common structural reference for relating multiple facilities, participants and infrastructure investments to the intended regional network.
When to use it: When planning or coordinating regional infrastructure development, assessing how projects fit together and considering how the network may evolve.
Policymakers and Public Institutions
Why it matters: Architecture provides an infrastructure context within which supporting policies, investment initiatives and coordination mechanisms can be considered.
When to use it: When formulating or reviewing measures intended to support regional CCUS or hydrogen infrastructure.
The standards can inform policy formulation, but they do not prescribe every policy choice, replace statutory processes or imply government endorsement.
Engineering, Technical, Commercial and Financial Professionals
Why it matters: A defined system architecture provides the structural context within which individual project options can be assessed.
When to use it: During engineering studies, capacity assessments, technical evaluations, investment analysis and project development, so that the relationship between individual projects and the intended regional system remains explicit.
When Should System Architecture Be Applied?
System architecture is most foundational when a regional network is first conceived. It should also remain relevant as infrastructure develops.
Its application can extend across five stages:
1. Conception and intent: Identify the regional infrastructure need and answer the fundamental questions about the intended system.
2. System architecture: Define the intended topology, boundaries, relationships, participation principles, responsibilities and provisions for development. Establish the structural basis for proceeding.
3. Detailed assessment and development: Undertake engineering, technical, quantitative, commercial and financial analyses in the context of the defined architecture. Assess project options and address applicable safety and regulatory requirements.
4. Implementation: Translate the architecture and the outcomes of the relevant assessments into individual facilities, logistics arrangements and infrastructure projects, subject to applicable requirements and approvals.
5. Network evolution: Consider new participants, additional facilities, expansion and changes in relation to the intended architecture and the requirements for preserving its defining characteristics.
Architecture is therefore not merely a preliminary document. It provides the system-level reference connecting the initial conception of a network with its development and evolution.
Define the Architecture. Develop the Network Around It.
Regional CCUS and hydrogen logistics networks require coordination beyond the design and assessment of individual facilities. Their development begins with a clear understanding of the system intended, the relationships it must establish and the principles that will govern its evolution.
Novonanmek's HOPT-AS and HLAS standards address this requirement through system architecture.
HOPT-AS establishes the hub-only pipeline topology architecture for regional CCUS networks. HLAS establishes the architecture for hydrogen logistics networks.
Both place system architecture at the point where fundamental infrastructure questions are answered and a defined structural basis for proceeding is established.
Engineering, technical, commercial and financial analyses can then assess the constituent projects in the context of that architecture. The relevant implementation and regulatory processes determine how individual projects can ultimately proceed.
The principle is straightforward: define the architecture of the intended system, assess and develop infrastructure in relation to that architecture, and consider supporting planning and policy within the same structural context.
Planning a Regional CCUS or Hydrogen Logistics Network?
Understanding how the intended system should be organised is a foundational step in regional infrastructure development.
Explore Novonanmek's architecture standards to understand their scope and their role in defining the structure around which regional networks can be developed.