United Kingdom prepares for hydrogen by amending legislation on offshore pipelines and storage

The UK government has launched a consultation on amending legislation for offshore pipelines and storage, which is intended to establish rules for hydrogen transport and storage. According to an analysis by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), hydrogen consumption in the United Kingdom could reach 250 to 460 TWh in 2050, giving hydrogen a 20 to 35% share of final energy consumption.

According to DESNZ, hydrogen can help decarbonise the UK economy, particularly in industrial sectors that are difficult to electrify, while also providing a “greener” and flexible energy source for power generation, transport and heating.

“Hydrogen produced in the United Kingdom can create thousands of jobs across the country and provide greater energy security by reducing our dependence on imports of energy commodities,” the department said.

That is why the British government doubled its original target for low-carbon hydrogen production capacity in its energy security strategy, raising it to 10 GW by 2030, with at least half of that capacity to come from electrolysers.