Natural gas is one of the most promising alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuels because of its high thermal efficiency and lower harmful emissions, including $CO_2$. Although the high octane value of natural gas increases engine output and efficiency due to the high compression ratio, this fuel is prone to such difficulties as a narrow limit of inflammability and a slow combustion speed in the lean burn operation domain, leading to unstable combustion and higher emissions of harmful exhaust gases. Hydrogen blended with natural gas can extend the lean burn limit while maintaining stable, efficient combustion and achieving lower NOx, hydrocarbon and green house gas emissions. In this study, the effect of hydrogen addition on an engine performance and NOx emission characteristics was investigated in a heavy duty natural gas engine. The results showed that thermal efficiency was increased and NOx emissions were reduced due to the expansion of lean operation range under stable operation. NOx emission can be significantly reduced with the retard of spark advance timing.