HyDelta 4 Closing Event 2026: From Research to Real-World Hydrogen Infrastructure

On September 23rd, over 50 representatives from network operators, governments, research organisations and industry gathered at Kasteel De Schaffelaar for the HyDelta closing event.

Over the past years, HyDelta has brought together experts from across the Dutch hydrogen ecosystem to address the practical challenges of developing a safe, reliable and efficient hydrogen transport and distribution system. The closing event provided an opportunity to reflect on the knowledge developed and, more importantly, discuss how these insights can support the next phase of hydrogen deployment in practice.

After an introduction of project coordinator Rob van Zoelen of New Energy Coalition, the afternoon started with plenary contributions from Marijke Kuiper of Gasunie, Tom Eijsackers of Netbeheer Nederland, highlighting the value of HyDelta’s research results for network development and operations in the Netherlands. Thereafter, Romain J. of NaTran, being our special international guest, provided an overview of hydrogen grid innovation activities in France.

Participants then joined an interactive carousel of sessions covering the HyDelta 4 results, with a wide range of topics, including:
⚡ Industrial hydrogen distribution networks
⚡ Safety, operations and maintenance
⚡ Grid interfaces and gas quality
⚡ Hydrogen grid balancing
⚡ Materials and infrastructure compatibility
⚡ New technologies for off-spec gas compositions
⚡ Recompression concepts and operational flexibility
⚡ Hydrogen emissions and gas flaring

Over the duration of the programme, HyDelta 4 has not only generated scientific insights, but also delivered actionable recommendations that can support policymakers, regulators and network operators in building the future hydrogen system.

The event concluded with an interactive discussion on the future of hydrogen research and knowledge development. A clear message emerged from participants:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘏𝘺𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”

A sincere thank you to all speakers, moderators, contributors and participants who have made HyDelta such a valuable collaboration over the years, including the HyDelta consortium of: Gasunie, Netbeheer Nederland, TNO, DNV, Kiwa and New Energy Coalition.