Latest News on the UK Hydrogen Economy - 13/10/21

Ames Goldsmith Ceimig, as a manufacturer of catalysts such as Iridium Oxide, Iridium Ruthenium Oxide, Iridium Black, Platinum Black & Platinum on Carbon support, are strong supports of the emerging Hydrogen Economy and supply many manufacturers of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology including PEM Electrolysers and PEM Fuel Cells.

In the UK we are members of the UKHFCA & SHFCA. Here are some of the recent developments in Hydrogen happening in the UK and affecting the Hydrogen Economy more broadly:

IEA releases Global Hydrogen Review 2021 - weblink

The IEA Hydrogen Review identifies Europe is the leading region for electrolyser capacity deployment, with 40% of global installed capacity. Europe is set to remain the largest market in the near term on the back of the ambitious hydrogen strategies of the European Union and the United Kingdom. Global capacity of electrolysers, which are needed to produce hydrogen from electricity, doubled over the last five years to reach just over 300 MW by mid-2021. Around 350 electrolyser projects currently under development could bring global capacity up to 54 GW by 2030.

While the adoption of hydrogen as a clean fuel is accelerating, the IEA Review finds it still falls short of what is required to help reach net zero emissions by 2050. If all the announced industrial plans are realised, by 2030:

• Total global hydrogen demand could grow as high as 105 Mt – compared with more than 200 Mt in the NZE Scenario

• Low-carbon hydrogen production could reach more than 17 Mt – one-eighth of the production level required in the NZE Scenario

• Electrolysis capacity could rise to 90 GW – well below the nearly 850 GW in the NZE Scenario

• Up to 6 million FCEVs could be deployed – 40% of the level of deployment in the NZE Scenario (15 million FCEVs)

Much faster adoption of low-carbon hydrogen is needed to put the world on track for a sustainable energy system by 2050. Developing a global hydrogen market can help countries with limited domestic supply potential while providing export opportunities for countries with large renewable or CO2 storage potential.

IEA releases World Energy Outlook 2021 - weblink

A new low-carbon energy economy emerging around the world, but the new World Energy Outlook (WEO-2021) released today by the International Energy Agency (IEA) makes it clear that this clean energy progress is still far too slow to put global emissions into sustained decline towards net zero, highlighting the need for an unmistakeable signal of ambition and action from governments at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

WEO-2021, the IEA’s annual flagship publication, shows that even as deployments of solar and wind go from strength to strength, the world’s consumption of coal is growing strongly this year, pushing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions towards their second largest annual increase in history. This year’s edition of WEO comes a month earlier than usual because it is designed as a handbook for COP26, which offers a critical opportunity for governments to accelerate their climate action.

Offshore green H2 jack-up rig production concept planned for North Sea - weblink

Aquaterra Energy has signed a partnership with Lhyfe and Borr Drilling to develop an innovative concept for offshore green hydrogen production in the North Sea.

The organizations behind Project Haldane, will develop an industrial scale offshore green hydrogen production concept, through the deployment of an electrolyser system on a converted jack-up rig.

Reliable winds far out in the North Sea are an exceptional renewable resource, yet remote locations create challenges around grid connectivity and intermittency of supply. This unique, flexible solution will solve this issue by providing an off take for the electricity produced in the immediate vicinity of the windfarm and aims to use existing platforms, pipelines, terminal infrastructure, and offshore equipment leveraging the existing infrastructure to reduce costs.

Scaling up Green Hydrogen in Orkney for Net Zero - weblink

The Flotta Hydrogen Hub is a new £multi-billion project proposal to create a green hydrogen hub on the island of Flotta in Orkney, powered by offshore wind projects in the seas to the west of Orkney. This green hydrogen from offshore wind could be exported to Europe or other destinations, blended into the UK gas grid at St Fergus, and drive forward an international maritime green hydrogen refuelling hub.

Edward Northam, Head of Green Investment Group Europe, said: “We believe that green hydrogen could provide a critical alternative route to market for some of Scotland’s largest offshore wind projects and play a significant role in creating wider economic benefits as the North Sea goes through its energy transition. We look forward to working with the Flotta partners to continue to develop this proposal.”

This significant inward investment would utilise a repurposed area of the Flotta Terminal to offer new employment opportunities for existing workers, with 25+ years of operation and a maritime low carbon refuelling port ensuring that Orkney remains at the heart of the UK's evolving energy revolution.

Partnership to build green H2 facilities in the UK - weblink

Octopus Hydrogen has entered a strategic partnership with Innova Renewables and Novus to build green hydrogen production facilities alongside their 4GW of solar, wind and battery projects currently under development in the UK.

Octopus Hydrogen, part of the Octopus Energy Group, will design, build and operate hydrogen production at several of Innova’s renewable generation sites across the country, with the installation of electrolysers, compression and mobile hydrogen storage. Electrolysers will typically be between 2 and 20 MW in scale.

Novus is working with Innova Renewables to develop 4 GW of solar, wind and battery capacity across the UK. Innova has agreed to develop hydrogen production facilities at several of its co-located solar and battery energy storage sites for the production and supply of green hydrogen to local businesses, via Octopus Hydrogen.

Nel to deliver 5 MW electrolyser to SGN in Scotland - weblink

Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser AS has received a purchase order for a 5 MW alkaline water electrolyser from SGN for the world's first 100% hydrogen-to-homes heating network on the east coast of Scotland.

The 5MW alkaline electrolyser is a fully redundant system and the contract includes installation and commissioning, as well as a service and maintenance contract. The electrolyser will deliver up to 2,093 kg/day of green hydrogen at 30 barg to SGN's H100 Fife project in Levenmouth, Scotland.

bp, ADNOC and Masdar to develop H2 hubs across UK & UAE - weblink

The companies signed three agreements in aims to develop low carbon hydrogen hubs and decarbonized air corridors between the UK and UAE.

The first agreement would see the companies collaborate to initially develop 2 GW of low carbon hydrogen across hubs in the UK and UAE, with the intention to expand as the project progresses. Access to clean hydrogen – a critical fuel in the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries – can reduce emissions, ‎enable new, low carbon products, and unlock future fuels.

The partnerships may potentially lead to the first international investment in the low carbon hydrogen facility in Teesside (H2Teesside), which aims to produce 1 GW of blue hydrogen starting in 2027. H2Teesside would capture and store up to 2 MMtpy of CO2 through the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP).

Caetano hydrogen bus trial starts in Inverness - weblink

Inverness will soon become the next city to trial a hydrogen bus on routes across the city and as far north as Dingwall, Alness and Muir of Ord.

As a combined initiative between HITRANS, Protium Energy Limited and Opportunity Cromarty Firth, the hydrogen fuel cell bus is expected to operate from mid-October through to the November 2021 on bus routes operated by Stagecoach Highlands. The trial will conclude following the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

The Caetano hydrogen fuel cell bus has a 60kW Fuel Cell and a 44kW battery pack, providing a range of 400km with 30km of this distance powered by battery alone. The high performance bus emits zero CO2 emissions and the hydrogen fuel cells are stored in the vehicles roof, allowing more space on board for the comfort of passengers.

UK consortium working to deploy hydrogen-powered airport ground support vehicles - weblink

Hydrogen-powered airport ground support vehicles will soon be a reality in the UK.

ULEMCo, Teesside International Airport, RAF Leeming, and Newcastle University are joining forces on the effort that aims to decarbonise the 7.5-tonne support vehicles under the name project ZeHyDA.

The hydrogen support vehicle work marks the first mobile application of ULEMCo’s zero emission hydrogen engine technology which it unveiled in 2019. Tests of the technology for the new application will be carried out in collaboration with the University of Newcastle.

Commenting on the news, Amanda Lyne, Managing Director of ULEMCo, said, “We are delighted to be able to build on the success of our 100% hydrogen static genset engine with this mobile vehicle.

“Airport ground support vehicles are yet another niche application that can benefit from decarbonisation using hydrogen, without the delay of building a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure.”

Green hydrogen-fuelled autonomous submarine and hydrogen-powered uncrewed surface vessel projects funded by UK Government - weblink

A project exploring the possibility of launching a green hydrogen-fuelled autonomous submarine between Scotland and Northern Ireland has been named as a winner in the UK Government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition.

Led by Oceanways Technologies, the modular submarines would be able to perform multiple marine missions, but the first target market will be to ship cargo with 0kg CO2 emissions within the UK and between its trade partners.