Hydrogen is today mostly produced and consumed in the same location, without the need for transport infrastructure. As demand increases, the production of low-emissions hydrogen in regions with abundant renewable energy resources will become more economically attractive, leading to an increase in transport needs to connect production sites with demand centres.
Pipelines are the most efficient and least costly way to transport hydrogen up to a distance of 2 500 to 3 000 km, for capacities above 200 kt per year, particularly in the case of repurposed pipelines. About 5 000 km of hydrogen pipelines are already in operation worldwide, mainly owned by private companies and used to connect industrial users. Several countries are developing plans for new hydrogen infrastructure, with Europe leading the way. The European Hydrogen Backbone initiative groups together 33 gas infrastructure operators with the aim of establishing a pan-European hydrogen pipeline network. Construction of the first 30 km of the Dutch hydrogen backbone – part of a planned 1 200 km network – began in October 2024. In Germany, KfW has granted a EUR 24 billion loan to support the development of the country’s 9 040 km hydrogen network, with the first 525 km – mainly repurposed natural gas pipelines – expected to be completed in 2025. In addition, China started construction of the 737 km Zhangjiakou Kangbao-Caofeidian hydrogen pipeline, which is expected to be completed by mid-2027. Staying on track with the NZE Scenario would require around 45 000 km of hydrogen pipelines (including new and repurposed pipelines) by 2035.
For long distance transport, shipping hydrogen and its carriers may be more cost competitive than pipelines. If pure hydrogen is required, it can be shipped directly or as ammonia or LOHC for later conversion. If not, it can be more easily transported as ammonia, methanol, synthetic fuels or bulk products made with low-emissions hydrogen, such as hot briquetted iron. In February 2022 the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project demonstrated for the first time the shipment of liquefied hydrogen from Australia to Japan, but the technology is not yet commercial. As a result, most projects are focused on ammonia exports, with only a few large projects already committed. Notably, Saudi Arabia’s 1.2 Mtpa ammonia NEOM project reached financial closure in March 2023 while India’s AM Green Ammonia project, a 1 Mtpa plant for low-emissions ammonia production, including for export, reached FID in August 2024. In the NZE Scenario, around 18 Mt of low-emissions hydrogen (in the form of hydrogen or hydrogen-based fuels) are shipped globally by 2030.
The development of infrastructure for underground hydrogen storage will be important to provide flexibility and may be considered for security purposes in the event of supply disruptions. Salt caverns are already used for industrial storage in the United States and the United Kingdom. Several projects are ongoing for the demonstration of fast cycling in salt caverns for hydrogen storage and the repurposing of caverns previously used for storing natural gas. In December 2023, the H2CAST Etzel project successfully converted two large salt caverns previously used for gas storage into hydrogen storage facilities, with leak tests completed in 2024. In August 2024, Uniper inaugurated a hydrogen storage pilot project at a salt cavern site in northern Germany. Although at a lower level of technological maturity, other types of underground hydrogen storage are being tested. Between 2022 and 2024, a demonstration facility for storing hydrogen in lined hard rock caverns has successfully operated in Sweden. There are ongoing projects to demonstrate hydrogen storage in depleted gas fields, such as the Underground Sun Storage 2030 in Austria and HyStorage in Germany. In the NZE Scenario, global bulk storage capacity rises from 0.5 TWh today to almost 300 TWh by 2035.
