Along with sectors like steel and chemicals, utilities could be a major source of demand given the scale of their distribution networks.
But they answer to regulators and rate-payers sensitive to any hike in monthly bills, so hydrogen costs must gradually fall in order for utilities to blend greater volumes, said Ben Wilson, chief strategy and external affairs officer and interim president at National Grid Ventures, a unit of the London-based electric and natural gas utility that operates in New York and Massachusetts.
National Grid is exploring hydrogen investments and is partnering with a Seattle-based startup, Modern Hydrogen, that is working on distributed hydrogen production technology that serves to “disrupt us,” Wilson said.
