The hydrogen safety shift: from risk to readiness
While hydrogen is emerging as a key pillar of the energy transition, safety concerns remain a critical barrier to public acceptance and large-scale deployment. This article explores the complex realities behind hydrogen safety—going beyond historical fears and media headlines to focus on facts, technical principles, and operational experience.
Hydrogen is back in the spotlight—hailed as the clean fuel of the future, ready to power trucks, heat homes, and fuel airplanes. But as hydrogen enters the mainstream in industrial plants and everyday life, one big question remains: Is it safe? From infamous disasters like the Hindenburg to cutting-edge refueling stations in European cities, hydrogen has a complicated public image. In reality, it's not about fear, but about facts. This article cuts through the myths and headlines to explore how hydrogen safety really works: the science, the systems, and the lessons from real-world projects. And it shows why ports, with their unique mix of scale, structure, and strategy, are becoming the testing grounds for making hydrogen both safe and scalable—starting with an ambitious new initiative in four North Sea ports.
Hydrogen safety - facts and fiction
Public perception of hydrogen safety has long been shaped by dramatic incidents—most notably the Hindenburg disaster in 1937 and, more recently, explosions in countries like South Korea. While these events are often cited as reasons for caution, they also underscore the need for robust safety standards, advanced technologies, and clear communication with the public.
But is hydrogen inherently more dangerous than other fuels, or is it simply misunderstood?
To answer that, we first need to understand its key characteristics. Hydrogen is non-toxic, burns cleanly, and diffuses rapidly in the open air—properties that make it an attractive clean energy carrier. However, it also ignites more easily than natural gas and burns with a nearly invisible flame, requiring specialized detection systems. Over time, hydrogen can brittle certain metals, meaning some parts of our existing infrastructure, such as pipelines, valves, and connections, need to be reinforced or replaced. Unfortunately, these unique properties are often misunderstood, giving rise to persistent myths. For example, it's often wrongly assumed that hydrogen is toxic, or that it can't be transported through existing gas pipelines. With the right modifications and safety measures, many pipelines can safely transport hydrogen. Like any energy carrier, hydrogen carries specific risks—but when managed properly, its overall safety profile is comparable to the fuels we already use every day.
The key lies in separating fact from fiction and ensuring that systems, protocols, and public understanding evolve together. Only then can hydrogen fulfill its potential as a clean and safe solution for the future.
Practical examples of hydrogen safety
Across the Netherlands, hydrogen projects are already demonstrating how safety can be fully integrated into business operations. In Alkmaar, for example, the NXT hydrogen refueling station serves heavy-duty vehicles and also serves as a training facility for hydrogen safety procedures, emergency response, and technical testing. Meanwhile, the HEAVENN project (Hydrogen Energy Applications in Valley Environments for the Northern Netherlands), a comprehensive hydrogen value chain encompassing residential heating, public transport, and decentralized production, all designed with public safety as a central pillar. In every project, we collaborate with municipalities, emergency services, and infrastructure managers to ensure transparency and public preparedness.
Safety standards for hydrogen
Hydrogen has been used in heavy industry for decades, where safety is managed by a full quantitative risk assessment (QRA) specific to each industrial site. However, for scaling up hydrogen infrastructure to many (smaller) sites, it is simply too time-consuming and expensive to perform a full QRA for every occasion, which is why there is a need to develop standard operating procedures for "generic" hydrogen safety. Similarly, in the Netherlands, the BEI (Business Operations of Electrical Installations) and VIAG (Safety Instructions for Natural Gas) are in force for electricity and natural gas, which also prescribe safe work instructions (VWIs) for personnel working on the respective generic infrastructure. Such instructions are not yet in place for hydrogen!
Hydrogen safety and innovation in ports
To develop a common hydrogen safety standard, ports are the ideal development ground for such safety procedures, as large-scale industrial activities (based on QRA) converge with small-scale hydrogen distribution and use in a well-regulated and controlled area.
This is exactly what we are trying to do in the project NSH2V Ports, an ambitious initiative co-led by us, Ontwikkelingsbedrijf Noord-Holland Noord(ONHN), and a consortium of major European ports. NSH2V is funded by the Interreg North Sea program and aims to accelerate the development of safe and scalable hydrogen supply chains through North Sea port infrastructure. The project is launched in 2024 and will deliver a master plan for H2 use in four European ports by 2026.
NSH2V also promotes international knowledge exchange, harmonization, and scaling up of best practices in European ports. In close collaboration with regional development agencies such as ONHN, the project ensures that hydrogen integration is embedded in local spatial planning, workforce training, and port redevelopment strategies. By aligning technical innovation with governance and public awareness, NSH2V Ports sets the standard for the safe application of hydrogen in one of the most complex and strategic environments of the energy transition: the port.
Authors: Joshua Dauda and Danah Kolstee work at New Energy Coalition and work for North Sea Hydrogen Valley Port (NSH2V), respectively as project leader and communications coordinator.
