Latest News on the UK Hydrogen Economy - 17/11/21

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:

COP26: Hydrogen is Europe’s real chance to fight climate change - Weblink

The long-awaited 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP26 – is upon us: it needs to be a turning point for meaningful international action on climate change.

The COP21 Summit in Paris reached a breakthrough agreement to limit the global warming to 1.5 degrees. Six years on, all eyes are on Glasgow to make sure the world stays on track and keeps 1.5 degrees within reach. As the US climate envoy John Kerry put it, the COP26 climate change summit is the “last best hope for the world to get its act together”.

It is time for us all – governments, industry, and civil society – to take concrete actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This is especially urgent for policymakers who have to prove they can put words into action. COP26 must go beyond a mere goal of setting standards for emissions reductions, it must give a clear indication on how a climate-neutral future will be achieved and with what means.

In this context, hydrogen is a key piece of the climate neutrality jigsaw as it’s a viable solution to many of the world’s climate neutrality objectives: it unleashes the potential of renewables, ensures energy system efficiency, and enables a carbon-neutral industry and transport system, on land, at sea and in the air.

Scottish Government releases Hydrogen Action Plan - Weblink

The Scottish Government has released their Hydrogen Action Plan, with the ambition to make Scotland a leading hydrogen producer. Backed by more than £100 million of funding, the draft Hydrogen Action Plan sets out the strategic approach the Scottish Government will take with industry to help make Scotland become a leading nation in the production of reliable, competitive and sustainable hydrogen.

This is a five-year plan to help build Scotland’s hydrogen economy and deliver an ambition for the technology to provide nearly a sixth of Scotland’s energy needs by 2030 The five-year capital investment programme will focus on supporting regional renewable hydrogen production hubs and renewable hydrogen projects. The first tranche of investment will be a £10 million Hydrogen Innovation Fund, to be launched next year to drive technological progress and advance innovation and cost reduction within the emerging sector.

UK Government commits to hydrogen in landmark Net Zero Strategy - Weblink

The UK Government on Oct 19th reaffirmed its strong commitment to both hydrogen and carbon capture technologies, with the launch of a landmark Net Zero Strategy that is set to unlock £90bn ($124bn) of private investment by 2030 as the country strives to achieve net zero by 2050.

Offering a huge boost to the UK hydrogen economy, the strategy includes a £140m ($193m) Industrial and Hydrogen Revenue Support scheme to accelerate industrial hydrogen, as well as carbon capture, in order to bridge the gap between industrial energy costs from gas and hydrogen and throw support behind green hydrogen projects.

Octopus Energy, RES to invest £3bn by 2030 to enhance the hydrogen economy in the UK - Weblink

The UK is set to receive a huge boost to its hydrogen competence with Octopus Energy and RES revealing the intention to invest £3bn ($4.12bn) in green hydrogen plants by 2030.

The two groups will work together to not only develop green hydrogen production plants but also the storage capabilities to go with them.

This has been identified as a significant undertaking that is necessary to unlock the true potential of hydrogen by supplying the clean energy carrier when intermittent power generation is low.

Octopus Renewables itself manages more than 300 solar, onshore wind and biomass projects and thus these now have the potential to be used to generate green hydrogen to boost the energy transition in the UK.

Protium to build 40MW flagship green hydrogen project in Teesside - Weblink

Renewables firm Protium has secured a location in North East England to build a 40 megawatt (MW) green hydrogen project.

Earmarked for Wilton Universal Group’s site in Teesside, adjacent to the River Tees, the scheme will “cement” the regions as the leading green hydrogen zone in the UK.

As part of plans, Protium aims to generate green jobs and economic opportunities for the local community and region.

Current proposals are for the site to include up to 40MW of electrolysis capability, developed in two phases, including hydrogen storage.

The building of a hydrogen production facility will provide Protium with the infrastructure necessary to generate renewable green hydrogen energy, with plans to supply local manufacturers once built.

The storage system is designed to support the largest PEM electrolyser in Teesside, thus enabling local manufacturing and logistics businesses to transition from natural gas and diesel energy sources. Due for completion in 2026.

bp, Daimler to accelerate H2 infrastructure for UK freight transport - Weblink

bp and Daimler Truck AG today revealed plans to work together to help accelerate the introduction of a hydrogen network, supporting the roll-out of a key technology for the decarbonization of UK freight transport. They intend to pilot both the development of hydrogen infrastructure and the introduction of hydrogen-powered fuel-cell trucks in the UK.

Under their MOU, bp will assess the feasibility of designing, constructing, operating and supplying a network of up to 25 hydrogen refueling stations across the UK by 2030. These stations would be supplied by bp with ‘green’ hydrogen – generated from water using renewable power. Complementing this, Daimler Truck expects to deliver hydrogen-powered fuel-cell trucks to its UK customers from 2025.

ITM Power to build second Gigafactory in the UK and teases plans for a third overseas - Weblink

ITM Power said on Oct 15th it has secured £250m ($343m) to build a second gigafactory in the UK to manufacture electrolysers and has plans to build a third overseas as the group targets 5GW per annum of manufacturing capacity by 2024.

The plans were first revealed to H2 View in June by Dr. Rachel Smith, Executive Director of ITM Power, who confirmed the company had “already raised sufficient funds to build a second factory” which “would be even bigger than the current one”.

ITM Power moved into the world’s largest electrolyser manufacturing facility in Sheffield, UK in January 2021.

UK’s first hydrogen distribution pipeline one step closer to reality - Weblink

Plans for the UK’s first hydrogen distribution pipeline have taken a significant step forward.

This comes as global consulting and engineering company Wood today (Oct 26) said it has been awarded the consenting and environmental assessment and front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for the Cadent’s HyNet North West project.

From 2025, HyNet North West will begin to convert natural gas into low carbon hydrogen at Stanlow Refinery, with carbon dioxide safely captured and stored offshore in the Liverpool Bay gas fields.

A new pipeline network will transport the clean hydrogen to power industry, fuel buses, trains and heavy goods vehicles, to generate electricity, and to heat homes across North West England and North Wales.

It is hoped such efforts will reduce regional carbon dioxide emissions by up to 10 million tonnes every year by 2030 – the equivalent of taking four million cars off the road.

Rolls-Royce to develop mtu hydrogen fuel cells based on cellcentric’s modules - Weblink

In a landmark agreement, Rolls-Royce and cellcentric will expand their cooperation on hydrogen fuel cells, by developing complete mtu hydrogen fuel cells solutions based on cellcentric’s modules.

It is expected that these mtu hydrogen fuel cells will be utilised to provide zero-emission power to emergency energy for data centres.

Both companies are looking to grow the hydrogen fuel cell economy and by working together to accelerate the adoption, and the number of products on the market, hydrogen could become a staple in the clean energy transition.

JCB investing £100m in developing super-efficient hydrogen engines - Weblink

JCB has revealed on Oct 19th that it intends to invest £100m ($138m) on a project that will see the development of new, innovative hydrogen engines available by the end of 2022.

The hydrogen engine is expected to be used in a variety of mobility applications and will support the UK in its net zero emissions goals for the future.

In addition to this, it will also support companies in transitioning to zero-emission technologies by providing a super-efficient hydrogen engine.

UK consortium to implement a hydrogen highway consisting of land, sea and ports - Weblink

The Port of London Authority (PLA) is leading a new consortium aiming to develop a UK hydrogen highway network which consists of land, sea and ports.

Through this, it is expected that the hydrogen highway could significantly support the integration of hydrogen technologies into a range of different sectors with six projects planned for the highway.

The six projects cover energy diversity and trialling hydrogen power generation to be used in vessels at the PLA’s Denton Wharf.

ESSAR SUBMITS MAJOR PLANS FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION PLANTS - Weblink

Petrol giant Essar has submitted multimillion-pound plans for the construction of hydrogen production plants at its Stanlow manufacturing complex in Ellesmere Port.

The proposed hydrogen plants will form a central pillar of the landmark ‘HyNet North West’ initiative. The low carbon energy project aims to position the region at the "leading edge" of the UK's transition to net zero.

The construction of two blue hydrogen production hubs at Stanlow will attract £750m in total investment and support a hydrogen economy across North West England and North East Wales.

If approved by Cheshire West and Chester Council, construction work is scheduled to begin on site by the end of 2022, with hydrogen production set to commence by the mid-2020s.