Plans to establish a hydrogen trading hub in the Netherlands will replicate the structure of existing natural gas hubs such as the UK’s NBP and the TTF in Holland, project director Bert den Ouden says.

Like natural gas hubs, the hydrogen hubs will include the use of a physical storage facility and trade in grid balancing and storage contracts.

“We will do a spot market simulation. We will have a storage facility in the Netherlands, a salt cavern that is being converted to also store hydrogen,” den Ouden told the OGUK conference this week.

“We will have a storage facility in the Netherlands, a salt cavern which is being converted to also store hydrogen,” den Ouden, hyXchange

The project, called Hyxchange, is funded by Dutch gas infrastructure company Gasunie and the port authorities of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Groningen and North Sea Port.

The new hydrogen hub would be expected to generate liquidity in both exchange-based trading and bilateral over-the-counter trading in grey, blue and green hydrogen, with separately traded contracts for each, den Ouden says.

“This is like an electricity and gas system where the same grid is used whatever the origin, but where green electricity and gas are certified, thus adding value for the client,” the Hyxchange project backers say in a joint statement.

“In anticipation of the regulations, the hydrogen exchange initiative intends to organise a pilot scheme to gain experience in this area.”

A recent meeting of the project’s backers and more than 30 potential market participants produced a list of priorities for the project, including hydrogen certification, a price index for each type of hydrogen, a spot market and the development of trading instruments for storage and for balancing of the physical hydrogen network.

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Author: Stuart Penson