Hydrogen blend trial successfully gets to 12 percent
4 December 2025
New Zealand’s first ever hydrogen blending pilot was carried out in Te Horo on the Kāpiti Coast from June to October this year.
Led by Firstgas, the pilot involved blending green hydrogen with natural gas into the existing natural gas pipeline.
Having started with a 3.5 percent hydrogen blend in June, the trial reached a 10 percent milestone in September, an achievement celebrated by Firstgas and its pilot partners GasNet, Nova Energy, Powerco and Vector.
Upon completion in early October, the pilot successfully reached a 12 percent hydrogen blend, while staying within the gas specifications.
Clarus’s general manager for Future Fuels, James Irvine, said the pilot demonstrated the feasibility of using the existing gas infrastructure and appliances to transport hydrogen blends.
“Our energy future will be shaped by a mix of options, and this work helps us understand the option of hydrogen blending in more detail.”
Household involvement
Te Horo was selected for the pilot due to its small and accessible location and pipeline compatibility. The pilot team worked with 14 households in Te Horo, who used the blended gas in their home appliances.
To ensure safety at every stage, the team met frequently with the Te Horo residents to talk about their gas supply, check their gas appliances and take samples across the whole network.
A hydrogen blend display home was established, with heating and stove top gas appliances supplied by Rinnai, using the blended gas for cooking and heating to demonstrate how existing assets performed during the pilot.
“The display home has allowed us to show what’s possible while we gather evidence to inform the development of renewable gases in New Zealand,” Irvine said.
“It’s not about introducing hydrogen into every household but about proving that our networks and infrastructure can be ready, if and when hydrogen is widely available.”
Proven overseas
Hydrogen blending is not new, and the technology has been proved safe and effective. It is already being used in the US, UK, Canada, Japan and Australia.
In Markham, Ontario, for example, energy company Enbridge is blending up to 5% hydrogen into its natural gas network serving over 3,600 customers, including manufacturing plants, municipal buildings and institutional facilities.
Safety first
More than five years of preparation and planning went into ensuring the pilot could be delivered successfully, with close monitoring at every stage.
The project team worked closely with WorkSafe’s Energy Safety team.
WorkSafe Energy Safety Manager Mark Wogan said they were pleased Firstgas engaged with them at an early stage in their preparations to ensure safety for consumers and the public, as well as workers.
“This included sharing engineering studies which assessed the suitability and safety of the distribution network and installations involved.
“Because piping blended gas into homes is new under the Gas Regulations 2010, Firstgas applied to us for two regulatory exemptions so the pilot could go ahead.”
On 1 October, Standards New Zealand released a major revision to the national standard for reticulated gas (NZS 5442:2025) which provides guidance for the additional blending of hydrogen up to 10 percent injection within the local distribution network, which marks a significant step forward in supporting New Zealand’s energy transition.
It takes a team
Firstgas Project Manager Adeel Mushtaq led the hydrogen blend pilot from late 2023.
Bringing the project to life took an enormous amount of cooperation from the Te Horo residents, gas distributors, energy retailers, WorkSafe, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and many more, he said.
“Everyone pitched in to support this project across our organisation and externally.
“If people hadn’t worked so well together, we could not have done it all.
“While some teams worked on legal and regulatory hurdles, the technical team reviewed and completed a detailed design phase for the pilot, drawing on research from similar overseas trials.
“Then with materials delivered from various suppliers, the hydrogen blend setup was integrated in the workshop for testing.
“After site installation was completed and we received the delivery of hydrogen from BOC Gas, the team started working to prepare the site for hydrogen injection.
“All sorts of works were involved, starting with the civil works to increase the footprint of the existing delivery point in Te Horo, so the new equipment would fit in it.
“In parallel, we were doing instrumentation and electrical works in the workshop and assembling, integrating, testing and doing functional checks too, back here in New Plymouth.”
Into the future
Mushtaq said that this pilot helped Firstgas to properly understand hydrogen blending as one of New Zealand’s future energy options.
“We need to keep an eye on the price of hydrogen. I think there is medium- and long-term potential for hydrogen to be put into the gas network for all sorts of customers, such as high-heat industries that are hard to electrify and heavy transport.
“The purpose of this pilot is not to suggest hydrogen blending is a total solution, but to test whether our existing infrastructure and appliances can safely transport hydrogen so that, if and when hydrogen becomes commercially viable, the networks and capability are ready.
“By doing this groundwork now, we can make better-informed choices about the role hydrogen might play alongside other renewable energy options in the future,” he said.