1. Introduction

Hydrogen is increasingly being treated as a strategic energy carrier for decarbonising industry, transport, power generation and long-duration energy storage. However, hydrogen presents distinctive regulatory risks because it is highly flammable, has a very low ignition energy, can leak through small openings, and may be stored under very high pressure or at cryogenic temperatures.

A hydrogen storage licensing framework is therefore the legal system through which a government authorises the establishment, construction, operation, modification and, where applicable, closure of facilities that store hydrogen. Licensing generally addresses:

ownership and lawful possession of the storage facility;

location and land-use requirements;

design and construction;

pressure vessels and storage tanks;

fire and explosion prevention;

hazardous-area classification;

safety distances;

emergency planning;

inspection and testing;

environmental and planning approvals;

operational competence;

accident reporting; and

liability and insurance.

There is not yet a single globally uniform hydrogen-storage licensing regime. Different jurisdictions regulate hydrogen through combinations of gas-safety, pressure-vessel, hazardous-substance, environmental, planning and energy-market legislation.

2. Nature of Hydrogen Storage Licensing

Hydrogen can be stored in several forms:

Compressed gaseous hydrogen

Liquid hydrogen (LH₂)

Underground hydrogen storage

Hydrogen stored in pipelines or linepack

Solid-state or material-based storage

Large-scale stationary storage

Mobile storage systems and cylinder cascades

The applicable licence depends significantly on the form and quantity of hydrogen.

For example, compressed hydrogen may be regulated principally as a compressed gas and pressure-vessel hazard, while liquid hydrogen raises additional cryogenic and fire-safety issues. Large underground storage facilities may additionally require planning, geological, environmental and energy-infrastructure approvals.

3. Indian Hydrogen Storage Licensing Framework

India's framework is particularly important because hydrogen storage is presently regulated through a combination of existing hazardous-gas and pressure-vessel legislation together with newer hydrogen-specific provisions.

The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) is the principal central safety authority for several categories of hazardous substances, including compressed gases. PESO administers legislation and rules relating to compressed gases, petroleum and explosives. (Peso)

The important regulatory instruments include:

Explosives Act, 1884;

Gas Cylinders Rules, 2016;

Static and Mobile Pressure Vessels (Unfired) Rules, 2016;

Petroleum Rules, 2002, where applicable;

Environment (Protection) Act, 1986;

Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989;

environmental-clearance requirements where applicable;

building and fire-safety regulations; and

state/local planning and land-use requirements.

The exact approval pathway depends upon the type, quantity and configuration of the hydrogen installation.

4. Gas Cylinders Rules and Hydrogen Storage

Compressed hydrogen stored in cylinders and cylinder cascades can fall within the regulatory framework of the Gas Cylinders Rules, 2016.

The licensing system controls matters such as:

possession of cylinders;

filling;

storage;

testing;

approved premises;

cylinder specifications;

safety distances;

competent persons; and

inspection.

A particularly important recent development is India's explicit treatment of hydrogen dispensing infrastructure.

The 2025 Indian Gazette materials contain Form H, providing for a licence to store compressed hydrogen gas in a hydrogen-storage system/cylinder cascade for dispensing as automotive fuel. The form also contemplates storage connected with a hydrogen generation unit and specifies the licensed premises and equipment. (Peso)

This demonstrates a transition from relying exclusively on generic compressed-gas regulation toward more hydrogen-specific licensing architecture.

PESO also introduced an online module for granting licences for compressed-hydrogen dispensing stations under Form H in 2025. (Peso)

5. Static and Mobile Pressure Vessel Regulation

Large hydrogen storage systems cannot be understood merely as "gas cylinders." Pressure vessels and associated stationary installations are subject to the Static and Mobile Pressure Vessels (Unfired) Rules, 2016, as amended.

This becomes particularly important for:

large compressed-hydrogen tanks;

hydrogen cascades;

mobile hydrogen vessels;

liquid-hydrogen storage vessels;

filling and unloading systems; and

hydrogen dispensing installations.

The 2024 amendments contain specific provisions concerning liquefied hydrogen. They require liquefied hydrogen to be stored in appropriate above-ground pressure vessels, with storage vessels, pumps, vaporisers, dispensers, piping and fittings designed for liquefied-hydrogen service. They also prescribe safety-distance and installation requirements. (Peso)

The 2025 amendments further strengthened documentation requirements for LH₂ and major compressed-hydrogen installations. For specified major installations, applicants must provide surrounding-area layouts and a HAZOP study and comprehensive risk-assessment report. (Peso)

Thus, modern hydrogen licensing is increasingly becoming risk-assessment based rather than merely document based.

6. Application and Approval Process

A typical hydrogen-storage licensing process can be conceptualised as follows:

Stage 1 — Site selection

The developer identifies:

land ownership;

surrounding population;

roads;

industrial facilities;

schools/hospitals;

fire stations;

water bodies;

pipelines;

electrical installations; and

emergency-access routes.

For major hydrogen installations, surrounding-area information becomes particularly important.

Stage 2 — Preliminary design

The applicant prepares:

site layout;

storage capacity;

vessel specifications;

pressure ratings;

piping arrangements;

compressor systems;

valves;

pressure-relief systems;

ventilation;

fire protection;

electrical systems; and

hazardous-area classification.

Stage 3 — Risk assessment

A modern licensing system normally requires identification of credible accident scenarios, including:

hydrogen leakage;

jet fire;

flash fire;

explosion;

vessel rupture;

overpressure;

cryogenic release;

vehicle impact;

compressor failure; and

cascading equipment failure.

For major Indian LH₂/compressed-hydrogen installations, recent amendments expressly require HAZOP and comprehensive risk-assessment documentation. (Peso)

Stage 4 — Regulatory application

The applicant submits the required documents to the competent authority, such as PESO, together with relevant technical documents and land/ownership documentation.

Stage 5 — Inspection

The competent authority may inspect the premises and verify compliance with:

approved drawings;

safety distances;

equipment;

pressure vessels;

electrical installations;

emergency systems; and

operating procedures.

Stage 6 — Licence

The licence authorises possession, storage, filling and/or dispensing, depending on the specific licence.

The operator must then comply continuously with the licence conditions.

7. Hydrogen Storage and Hazardous-Area Classification

Hydrogen's regulatory significance arises partly from its extremely flammable characteristics.

Electrical equipment installed in hydrogen-handling areas therefore requires appropriate explosion protection.

PESO's licensing guidance explains that equipment used in hazardous areas involving hydrogen may require Group IIC classification and compliance with relevant explosion-protection standards. (Peso)

Consequently, a hydrogen storage licence is not simply permission to place tanks on a site. It incorporates an engineering safety regime covering:

electrical equipment;

ignition sources;

earthing;

ventilation;

gas detection;

emergency shutdown;

pressure relief; and

separation distances.

8. Liquid Hydrogen Licensing

Liquid hydrogen creates additional regulatory complexity because it is stored at extremely low temperatures.

A licensing framework must address:

cryogenic tanks;

thermal insulation;

boil-off gas;

pressure relief;

unloading operations;

transfer hoses;

emergency isolation;

cryogenic exposure;

fire protection; and

safe separation from buildings and public areas.

India's 2024 amendments expressly address liquefied-hydrogen storage and require appropriate above-ground pressure vessels and equipment suitable for LH₂ service. (Peso)

This represents an important distinction between compressed gaseous hydrogen licensing and liquid hydrogen licensing.

9. United Kingdom Model

The UK provides a useful comparative example.

Hydrogen storage can be subject to several overlapping regimes, including:

Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 (COMAH);

Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations;

health and safety legislation;

pressure-equipment requirements;

fire and emergency requirements; and

environmental/planning controls.

The UK Health and Safety Executive identifies hydrogen as a named dangerous substance under COMAH. Its published material states that hydrogen has a 5-tonne lower-tier and 50-tonne upper-tier threshold under the COMAH regime. (Citizen Space)

The same HSE material states that hazardous-substances consent is required under the planning regime for storage of two or more tonnes of hydrogen. (Citizen Space)

This illustrates an important legal principle: one hydrogen facility may require multiple regulatory approvals because safety, land-use and major-accident legislation serve different purposes.

10. European Union Approach

The EU is developing a more explicit hydrogen-market regulatory architecture.

Directive (EU) 2024/1788 defines a hydrogen system as infrastructure including hydrogen networks, storage and terminals. It also expressly defines a hydrogen storage facility and a hydrogen storage operator. (EUR-Lex)

The Directive provides for third-party access to hydrogen storage, subject to specified regulatory arrangements. Member States are required to provide regulated third-party access in the circumstances described by the Directive, while a transitional option for negotiated access exists until 31 December 2032. (EUR-Lex)

This demonstrates that hydrogen-storage regulation is evolving from merely a safety licensing question into an energy-market governance question.

A large hydrogen storage facility may therefore have two distinct legal dimensions:

Safety authorisation + energy-market authorisation.

11. Environmental Licensing

Hydrogen storage may also trigger environmental regulation.

Depending upon the facility, approvals may concern:

environmental impact assessment;

hazardous chemical storage;

water use;

wastewater;

air emissions;

emergency planning;

hazardous waste;

soil and groundwater;

land-use conversion; and

ecological impacts.

A hydrogen-storage licence therefore should not be interpreted as replacing environmental approval.

Instead, licensing systems normally operate through parallel approvals.

12. Planning and Land-Use Regulation

Hydrogen storage has a strong spatial dimension.

A storage facility may be technically safe but still unsuitable for a particular location because of nearby:

residential areas;

schools;

hospitals;

highways;

airports;

railways;

industrial installations; or

environmentally sensitive areas.

Accordingly, planning authorities may require:

site plans;

hazard assessments;

emergency-access arrangements;

consultation with fire authorities;

public-safety assessments; and

separation distances.

The UK example is particularly clear because hazardous-substances consent operates alongside COMAH. (Citizen Space)

13. Underground Hydrogen Storage

Underground hydrogen storage raises additional legal issues.

Possible storage formations include:

salt caverns;

depleted gas reservoirs;

aquifers;

engineered underground facilities.

Licensing may need to address:

geological suitability;

subsurface ownership;

mineral rights;

drilling permissions;

environmental assessment;

groundwater protection;

leakage;

hydrogen-rock interactions;

monitoring;

abandonment;

remediation; and

long-term liability.

The EU's 2024 hydrogen-market framework expressly recognises large, particularly underground, hydrogen storage within its definition of hydrogen storage facilities. (EUR-Lex)

14. Case Law

A. M.C. Mehta v. Union of India — Oleum Gas Leak Case

Citation: (1987) 1 SCC 395; AIR 1987 SC 1086.

This is the most important Indian judicial authority for analysing the legal consequences of hazardous-gas storage and handling.

The case concerned an oleum-gas leak from Shriram Food and Fertiliser Industries in Delhi. The Supreme Court developed the doctrine of absolute liability for enterprises engaged in hazardous or inherently dangerous activities. (Judgement Briefs)

The Court's principle is particularly relevant to hydrogen storage because hydrogen is itself a hazardous and highly flammable substance.

Legal principle

An enterprise carrying on a hazardous activity has an absolute and non-delegable duty to ensure that its activities do not harm persons or the surrounding community.

The importance for hydrogen licensing is that:

Obtaining a regulatory licence does not eliminate the operator's responsibility for safety.

A licence establishes regulatory permission; it does not provide immunity from civil or constitutional liability when hazardous operations cause harm.

15. Application of M.C. Mehta to Hydrogen Storage

Suppose a company operates a large hydrogen storage facility under a valid licence.

If hydrogen escapes because of:

inadequate maintenance;

defective safety equipment;

improper operating procedures;

failure of emergency systems; or

another operational failure,

the operator cannot necessarily argue that:

"We had a government licence, therefore we are not liable."

The licensing system establishes minimum regulatory compliance, while the M.C. Mehta doctrine concerns liability for harm resulting from hazardous activities.

Therefore:

Licence ≠ immunity from liability.

This distinction is fundamental to hydrogen-storage law.

16. Rylands v. Fletcher

The traditional English rule in Rylands v. Fletcher (1868) is also relevant to hazardous storage.

The rule historically imposed strict liability where a person accumulated a dangerous thing on land and it escaped, subject to recognised exceptions.

However, the Indian Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta considered the nineteenth-century rule inadequate for modern hazardous industries and formulated the stricter doctrine of absolute liability. (SCC Online®)

For hydrogen-storage regulation, the progression can therefore be represented as:

Rylands v. Fletcher → strict liability

M.C. Mehta → absolute liability for hazardous/inherently dangerous enterprises in India

This provides a strong jurisprudential foundation for stringent hydrogen-storage safety regulation.

17. Accident Evidence and the Importance of Licensing

PESO's own published accident material demonstrates why licensing controls matter.

Its annual-report material records a 2020 accident in Padra, Gujarat involving compressed hydrogen. According to the report, hydrogen was being transferred into cylinders intended for oxygen service; the oxygen cylinders had not been properly purged, and an explosive mixture formed. Six people were killed and four injured. The premises were licensed for storage of hydrogen cylinders, but the incident involved unsafe filling activity. (Peso)

The regulatory lesson is important:

A storage licence authorises only the activities covered by the licence and applicable rules; it does not authorise unsafe or unauthorised filling, transfer or modification.

Licensing therefore must distinguish between:

storage;

filling;

transfer;

transportation;

dispensing; and

production.

18. Core Principles of Hydrogen Storage Licensing

A comprehensive hydrogen licensing framework should contain at least the following principles.

19. Licensing, Certification and Market Regulation

It is useful to distinguish three different legal concepts.

Licensing

Government permission to construct/operate/store hydrogen.

Certification

Technical confirmation that:

tanks;

cylinders;

valves;

compressors;

piping;

equipment; or

systems

meet applicable technical standards.

Market regulation

Rules governing:

third-party access;

tariffs;

storage capacity allocation;

hydrogen trading;

network access;

guarantees of origin; and

competition.

The EU's 2024 hydrogen legislation illustrates this evolution by treating storage as part of the hydrogen energy system and providing rules for third-party access. (EUR-Lex)

20. Challenges in India's Hydrogen Storage Licensing Framework

India's emerging hydrogen economy presents several legal challenges.

1. Regulatory fragmentation

Hydrogen facilities can fall under several different regulatory authorities.

2. Lack of a single comprehensive hydrogen-storage statute

Many requirements presently arise through existing gas, pressure-vessel and hazardous-substance legislation.

3. Underground storage uncertainty

Large-scale underground hydrogen storage raises novel questions concerning subsurface rights, environmental liability and long-term monitoring.

4. New technology

Electrolysers, hydrogen carriers, liquid hydrogen and advanced storage technologies may not fit neatly within older regulatory categories.

5. Inter-agency coordination

PESO, environmental authorities, fire authorities, planning bodies, electricity regulators and local authorities may all have different responsibilities.

6. Long-term liability

Hydrogen storage facilities may remain operational for decades, raising questions concerning:

leakage;

abandoned facilities;

contaminated sites;

insurance;

successor liability; and

decommissioning.

21. Recommended Structure of a Future Hydrogen Storage Licensing Law

A dedicated hydrogen-storage statute or comprehensive regulatory framework could establish:

Part I — Definitions

Define:

hydrogen storage;

compressed hydrogen;

liquid hydrogen;

underground hydrogen storage;

hydrogen storage operator;

storage facility;

major hydrogen installation.

Part II — Licensing

Create separate licences for:

construction;

storage;

filling;

transportation interface;

dispensing;

underground storage; and

decommissioning.

Part III — Safety

Provide mandatory:

HAZOP;

risk assessment;

safety distances;

gas detection;

emergency shutdown;

fire protection;

inspection.

Part IV — Environmental protection

Include:

environmental assessment;

groundwater protection;

leak monitoring;

waste management;

decommissioning.

Part V — Public safety

Require:

emergency plans;

community notification;

disaster-management coordination;

emergency drills.

Part VI — Liability

Provide:

operator liability;

mandatory insurance;

compensation mechanisms;

environmental remediation;

financial-security requirements.

Part VII — Market access

For large energy-storage facilities:

third-party access;

transparent capacity allocation;

tariff regulation;

non-discrimination;

storage-market monitoring.

22. Conclusion

Hydrogen Storage Licensing Frameworks are evolving from traditional compressed-gas safety regulation toward a comprehensive system integrating industrial safety, pressure-vessel regulation, land-use planning, environmental protection, emergency management and energy-market governance.

In India, PESO remains central to the regulation of compressed gases and pressure-vessel installations, while recent regulatory developments have introduced increasingly specific provisions for compressed and liquefied hydrogen installations. (Peso)

The most important Indian judicial principle is found in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak): enterprises conducting hazardous or inherently dangerous activities can face absolute liability for resulting harm. (Judgement Briefs)

Thus, the legal philosophy underlying hydrogen-storage licensing can be summarised as:

Prior authorisation + technical certification + continuous safety compliance + emergency preparedness + environmental protection + financial responsibility.

The future regulatory challenge will be to create a licensing system that is sufficiently stringent to protect people and the environment while remaining flexible enough to accommodate compressed hydrogen, liquid hydrogen, underground storage, hydrogen hubs and integration with electricity and gas networks.