Hydrogen Storage & Transport in United Kingdom: The Real Bottleneck
Everyone obsesses over UK electrolyzer capacity. But if you can't move hydrogen from production to consumption, the capacity is academic. United Kingdom's hydrogen logistics infrastructure barely exists.
I've spent two years watching United Kingdom pour investment into electrolyzer announcements while largely ignoring how to move hydrogen from Point A to Point B. This is like building power plants without transmission lines.
United Kingdom's Transport Challenge
The UK Hydrogen Strategy (2021, updated 2024) targets 10 GW by 2030, split between green and blue hydrogen — the UK is uniquely positioned for blue hydrogen via North Sea CCS infrastructure (Humber cluster, Teesside). The Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (£240M) has funded 34 projects across the UK. ITM Power (Sheffield) is the UK's flagship PEM electrolyzer manufacturer, with 1 GW/year manufacturing capacity at Bessemer Park. Ceres Power (Horsham) develops SOEC technology. The UK's Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR-1) awarded 125 MW of electrolytic production. Critical challenge: the UK has no hydrogen pipeline network — HyNet North West is the first planned corridor.
The Logistics Problem in Numbers
Green hydrogen is best produced where renewable energy is cheapest. It's consumed where industry is located. The UK lacks any hydrogen pipeline network. HyNet North West is the first planned corridor. North Sea hydrogen production must reach industrial consumers in the Midlands and Northern England.
Today's options for moving hydrogen:
Compressed gas trucks: 300-500 kg per truck. For a 10 MW electrolyzer producing ~4 tonnes/day, you need 8-13 truck trips daily. Pilot-scale only.
Liquid hydrogen: 3-4 tonnes per cryogenic truck, but liquefaction consumes 30-35% of the hydrogen's energy content.
Pipeline: The only option that scales. Europe has ~1,600 km of hydrogen pipeline today. REPowerEU envisions 28,000 km by 2030. Current construction rate: ~50 km/year.
Pipeline Infrastructure in United Kingdom
The UK has no hydrogen pipeline. HyNet North West (Liverpool-Manchester) is the first planned corridor, combining hydrogen transport with CCS via depleted gas fields in Liverpool Bay. National Gas (formerly National Grid Gas) is evaluating backbone conversion.
Alternative Carriers
LOHC (Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers): Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies (Erlangen) leads development. Benzyltoluene-based system allows transport at ambient conditions in existing fuel infrastructure. But dehydrogenation is energy-intensive.
Ammonia: Favored for intercontinental transport. Yara and OCI are positioning. Reconversion loses 15-20% of energy content.
What UK Procurement Teams Should Know
- Budget 40-60% of total project CAPEX for logistics — not 10-15%
- Secure transport contracts before finalizing production contracts
- Consider on-site production first — even at higher $/kg, avoiding transport may be cheaper on a delivered-cost basis
- Track UK pipeline conversion timelines — they are aspirational
Our directory indexes 403 hydrogen supply chain companies in United Kingdom, including storage, distribution, and infrastructure providers.
---
Data from Companies House, European Hydrogen Backbone study, and CORDIS. 403 companies register-verified.
- • Companies House
- • European Hydrogen Backbone study
- • UK Hydrogen Strategy 2024