Letter on hydrogen: Mind the midstream gap

The development of hydrogen’s distribution system must speed up if the industry is to stand any chance of grabbing a meaningful slice of the low-carbon energy market

The Nordic–Baltic Hydrogen Corridor (NBHC), a 2,500km hydrogen pipeline project designed to link Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Germany, recently invited market participants to express their potential interest, or not, in booking capacity on the line. The six transmission system operators that are leading the project, which also has EU backing, need the market’s support to push forward to the next phase. Their ambition is to start pumping hydrogen through the pipeline from around 2033. This timeline is typical for a major project of this type, as the natural gas industry has found over recent decades. However, in hydrogen’s case, there is growing pressure to speed up the development