Phase one of the Energy Hubs project examined the infrastructure, long-term investment, and technological innovations that will enable commercially viable and efficient energy hubs located in several key locations in Scotland, with the potential to reach 35 GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2045.

To realise this potential and capitalise on future export opportunities, the report recommends action including:

• Rapid investment targeted at next generation technologies and manufacturing processes to accelerate floating offshore wind
• Innovations in electrolyser technologies to improve the efficiency of hydrogen production while reducing system costs
• Development of highly efficient energy storage facilities with GWh capacities
• Optimising the integration of energy vectors within Energy Hubs, along with exploring further opportunities in alternative fuels and byproducts

Phase two of the project will continue to focus on the challenges of hydrogen and alternative fuels production while exploring the concept of a ‘Super Hub’. This will involve integrating several large-scale Energy Hubs to optimise their combined performance and achieve economies of scale, enhancing competitive export potential.

The Energy Hubs Project, which received funding from the Scottish Government’s Energy Transition Fund (ETF) and matched funding from industry, complements NZTC’s ‘Hydrogen Backbone Link’ project, which demonstrates the feasibility of exporting 0.9 million tonnes of hydrogen per year from Scotland to Europe via a new dedicated hydrogen pipeline. Several large-scale Energy Hubs, housing the necessary facilities for hydrogen production and its derivatives, will be crucial to the success of the Hydrogen Backbone Link.

Darren Gee, Programme Manager NZTTP at NZTC, said, “As the European hydrogen market expands, Scotland has the opportunity to establish itself as a leading producer and exporter of green hydrogen, positioning it as a major player in the future energy mix.

“The Energy Hubs project marks the formulation of an actionable plan for large-scale hydrogen production, underscoring the critical need for investment, infrastructure, and technological innovation. To address identified challenges, accelerating the development of smaller-scale projects is crucial. This approach will allow us to gain experience and establish a robust supply chain capable of supporting the pivotal large-scale projects necessary to seize this opportunity.”

The first phase of project has received support from partners including Altera, Crown Estate Scotland, EnQuest, Kellas Midstream, Port of Aberdeen, Shell, Shetland Island Council, SLB, Subsea 7, Verlume, Wood, Wood Mackenzie and Worley.

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Canning a quarter of a million tonnes of ketchups, baked beans and preserves every year and employing 850 people, Kitt Green is one of Europe’s biggest food processing plants, producing a plethora of household staples.

Carlton’s proposed 20MW on-site green hydrogen unit is designed to replace at least 50% of the plant’s current use of natural gas.  Cutting the plant’s carbon emissions by 16,000 tonnes annually, the replacement fuel source will be electrolysed from water, using electricity generated primarily from wind and solar.

Kitt Green is the fifth green hydrogen project which Carlton Power is taking forward in England.  Its forerunners include Kimberly-Clark’s Cumbrian paper factory, and a major supply scheme approved for the Trafford Industrial park.

Eric Adams, the company’s hydrogen projects director, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Kraft Heinz at Kitt Green to help the company speed up its efforts to decarbonise their operations.  It is critical that projects like this are brought forward to support British companies, especially in manufacturing, in reducing their carbon emissions and reaching Net Zero.”

Kraft Heinz’s president for northern Europe Jojo Lins De Noronha responded: “Our agreement with Carlton Power is an important step forward in our efforts to achieve our global goal of a 50 percent cut in emissions by 2030.

“We’re excited to partner together to develop our first, renewable hydrogen energy project globally and hope to see more projects like these in the future.”

Funding and planning approval remain hurdles to be overcome, if the £40m decarbonising unit is to begin production as planned in 2026.

The partners need support from the second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) of the government’s Hydrogen Production Business Model (HPBM), launched to support industry’s switch to the green gas and grow the hydrogen economy.  HAR2 opened for applications in December.

In coming months, the two companies will apply to DESNZ for grant support, informed by consultations with local and national stakeholders.  They will be working over the next 18 months to secure planning permission.

Local civic figures enthused over the initiative. Wigan’s MP Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for international development, said:

“Transitioning to net zero is essential to protect local jobs and defend the environment. It is a sign of confidence in Wigan that Heinz has identified Kitt Green as the first site for investment“.

Councillor Tom Ross, Greater Manchester’s lead for the Green City-Region: “The authority is making great strides towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2038, but we need everyone pulling in the same direction.

“That’s why it’s great to see Kraft Heinz and Carlton Power collaborating to drive forward our path to net zero, making Wigan home to Kraft Heinz’s first ever green hydrogen-powered plant“, Ross went on.

“This represents a long-term investment in green jobs right here in our city-region, and a major boost for establishing a hydrogen economy in Greater Manchester.”

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In return for state backing, the successful projects will invest over £400 million in the next 3 years, generating more than 700 jobs across the UK, said the ministry.

For industrial processes, the government says nascent green hydrogen, electrolysed with renewable electricity, needs support as it challenges blue hydrogen, made from re-processed oil and gas.  The cleaner variety, says Whitehall, needs support in building up output to justify new infrastructure.

Both types offer potential, ministers believe, to create over 12,000 jobs this decade and unlock as much as £11 billion of investment.

However the government has confirmed that plans to convert homes in Redcar, Teesside to the green variety will not go ahead, with ministers citing problems with its main supply. The announcement follows withdrawal of a similar conversion of homes in Whitby. Results from a third home pilot in Fife are being evaluated.

Around 125MW of industrial projects will benefit straightaway from the announcement. Participating businesses include

• Sofidel in Port Talbot, South Wales. The paper-maker will replace half of its current gas consumption with hydrogen
• InchDairnie Distillery in Scotland, who will run a boiler on 100% hydrogen in their distilling process
• PD Ports in Teesside, who will use hydrogen to replace diesel in their vehicle fleet, decarbonising port operations from 2026

Currently, less than 1% of the gas in distribution networks is hydrogen. Under Whitehall’s proposals, hydrogen could be blended with other gases in the network as an offtaker of last resort. That should cut costs in the hydrogen sector by helping producers seize economies of scale.

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho also unveiled a second round of funding now available to applicants making blue and green H2 varieties, so they can develop pipelines in readiness for the government’s allocation rounds in 2025 and 2026. These intend to boost hydrogen capacity up to 1.5GW, on track to 4GW of blue capacity and 6GW of green by 2030.

Hydrogen blending may help achieve the UK’s Net Zero ambitions, but would have a limited and temporary role as the UK moves away from the use of natural gas.

Coutinho said: “Hydrogen presents a massive economic opportunity for the UK, unlocking over 12,000 jobs and up to £11 billion of investment by 2030.

“Our announcement represents the largest number of commercial scale green hydrogen production projects announced at once anywhere in Europe”.

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With abundant Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Natural Gas reserves, the Gulf region is set to become a leading global producer of green and blue hydrogen, ammonia and other synthesis products.

The concept of a hydrogen pipeline connecting Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and traversing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe may seem ambitious, but initial assessment indicates tat it’s feasible. The analysis shows that a suitable pipeline configuration could transport 100TWh or approximately 2.5 million tonnes of hydrogen annually. Moreover, by constructing additional pipelines of the same nature, the transport capacity could be significantly increased.

The cost of transporting hydrogen through this pipeline is initially seen at approximately €1.2/kg H₂. The Gulf countries, in turn, could supply green and blue hydrogen to the economic hub of Europe at Levelised Costs Of Delivered Hydrogen (LCODH) of around €2.7/kg starting from the 2030s, decreasing to around €2.3/kg in the longer term.

Recent geopolitical challenges have forced Europe to explore alternative avenues for energy security, including linking the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe by pipeline, which was investigated for the EastMed Natural Gas project. At the same time, the discussion around exporting hydrogen and its synthesis products from the Gulf to Europe is currently revolving around molecule transport by ship. These options receive EU subsidies and drive activity within the gas/hydrogen industry, but the study claims, they may not be most efficient for bulk transport.

Andrea Bombardi, Executive Vice President at RINA said, “This study considers routing alternatives, technical parameters and feasibility, especially for the deep-sea pipeline section, geo-strategic framework conditions and top-level economic estimates of a direct hydrogen pipeline link between the Gulf and Europe as an element of an integrated green energy and industry system across Europe and MENA. Together with AFRY, we have identified a potential stable corridor to bring supply and demand together. The scale-up of hydrogen adoption goes through projects like this.”

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The newly named ‘Hydrogen Works’ building will see the consortium collaborate across a range of hydrogen-related research and industry projects including clean-power generators, state-of-the-art refuelling infrastructure and cutting-edge energy systems for heavy industry.

As part of Heriot-Watt University’s strategy to engage with business and become leaders in sustainability, it is reshaping its Riccarton Campus in Edinburgh to house innovative companies and clusters, including Logan Energy and PlusZero.

The Scottish Government recently published a draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan setting out its plans to kickstart the production of low carbon hydrogen and carbon capture and storage as part of its ambition to decrease industrial emissions by 43% by 2032.

It’s estimated that Scotland’s energy-intensive industry, which relies on polluting fossil fuels, is responsible for up to 15% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Professor Gillian Murray, deputy principal for business and enterprise at Heriot-Watt University, said, “Working hand-in-hand with business is at the very heart of what we do at Heriot-Watt University. Hydrogen Works is an excellent example of how co-location on our campuses can drive engagement and accelerate growth in businesses through access to innovation, talent and entrepreneurial minds.

“We look forward to working in partnership with Logan Energy and PlusZero and building a strong business cluster in Scotland around the future opportunities hydrogen brings to our economy.”

Energy Minister, Gillian Martin, said,  “Scotland has vast natural resources with which we can become world leaders in renewable hydrogen production and export, and the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Action Plan reaffirms our clear commitment to helping our hydrogen sector grow and prosper.

“We must work collaboratively and innovatively in order to realise the huge potential of hydrogen and partnership is important to accelerate the development of the technology.”

Launched in 2021, PlusZero Power creates portable, zero-carbon generators that are powered by green hydrogen from renewable electricity generated on the Scottish islands, with the aim of replacing greenhouse gas-emitting diesel generators.

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The Edinburgh-based proponents of big weights – pictured – falling to make instantaneous power have signed up a French construction firm to explore Britain’s re-purposed mine shafts and new drillings as solutions to the nation’s future storage needs for the gas.

Gravitricity posits re-purposed mine shafts as a “Goldilocks solution”,  a middle way for high-volume storage neither as expensive as empty oil strata offshore, and neither as geologically sparse as onshore salt caves.

A new or re-conditioned shaft 365 metres deep and six in diameter could, when lined with steel, hold 100 tonnes of H2 at 220 bar, or so Gravitricity reason.

Watt’s mine, could be ores

By mid-century that could be the daily output of green H2, electrolysed from water with the output of a single 460MW offshore wind farm.

A thousand such shafts, branded as Flexistores, could accommodate around 25% of the 400,000 tonnes of H2, which by 2050 the government calculates should be powering Britain’s industrial processes and heating our buildings.

Eye-watering amounts of clean electricity from wind farms already goes to waste, – “constrained” in industry jargon – , for want of buffering or bunkering available in battery form, or through energy conversion.  One industry estimate put the UK figure as high as 3.6 TWh in 2020, equating to one million homes’ power consumption for twelve months.

Now Gravitricity have signed a memo with VSL, the sub-surface engineering unit of French conglomerate Bouygues, to investigate technologies, geologies and locations, that could mine the potential of such shafts.

The partners are seeking funds to fit out a demonstrator ‘Flexistore’ installation somewhere beneath British soil, as a precursor to hundreds more.

How many holes in Blackburn, Lancashire?

Gravitricity recently completed a £300,000 feasibility study, conducted with Arup and funded by the UK Government’s BEIS HySupply programme.  Their research proved the technical and commercial feasibility of storing large amounts of compressed hydrogen in a lined rock shaft.

“Green hydrogen will be vital, where electrification is just not feasible, or where industrial grey hydrogen is already used.”

“It is difficult to transport the gas. It therefore makes sense to locate hydrogen storage systems close to sources of renewable power – which can generate green hydrogen – and to potential users“, Blair said.

From VSL, its UK head Peter Hughes added “We are delighted to partner with Gravitricity to develop and deliver these pioneering ground engineering solutions for renewable energy generation and storage. This project is fully aligned with the VSL vision to focus our engineering capabilities and solutions on the global transition to a low carbon future.”

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Certification experts DNV have recently warned that hydrogen will only make up 5% of the worldwide energy mix by 2050. This falls far below the 15% requirement defined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which formed part of a wider commitment to transform the global energy landscape by 2050 to keep rising global temperatures below 2°C.

Giuseppe Buscemi, President of IMI Critical Engineering, Europe, says, “Hydrogen created from green energy sources such as wind, solar, or geothermal energy is increasingly regarded as a crucial part of our transition to a sustainable future. Yet though previous International Energy Agency reports have predicted it will grow to 18% of the energy mix by 2050, the latest DNV research makes for troubling reading.

“The importance of electrolysers therefore cannot be overstated, as they will be vital in ensuring the world fully realises the potential of hydrogen. We expect the technology to play a pivotal role in decarbonising certain manufacturing sectors that cannot be electrified, which is why we have launched the new IMI VIVO Electrolyser. This new system, which provides green hydrogen, will allow wider uptake of sustainable energy generation solutions and help create a better world by keeping us on track with Paris Agreement targets.”

The company’s new PEM electrolyser uses a ‘turnkey’ configuration that can be adapted to customer specifications, and includes a fuel cell, storage system and electrolyser as standard. It is already being used across research facilities, including a Russell Group university in England which is assisting IMI Critical Engineering’s ongoing research into eco-fuels and green technologies.

Mr Buscemi concluded, “We began developing the IMI VIVO Electrolyser in 2020, as part of the company’s accelerator programme to identify and create solutions to assist the energy transition. IMI’s purpose is Breakthrough Engineering for a better world, and this new solution demonstrates that commitment in action. By combining our engineering capabilities with innovative technologies, we can work with our customers to make the world safer, cleaner, and greener.”

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Sir Jim Ratcliffe, boss of refining behemoth INEOS, announced via a newspaper that sum to expand electrolyser output this decade in Germany, Belgium and Norway, followed by plants in France and the UK.

“Hydrogen is the dream fuel”, Ineos’ founder and chairman assured readers of yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph. “You can heat your home with it. You can drive your car on it. Burn it and all it produces is energy, and the only by-product is water. We can all live with that”.

“The world has committed to hugely reducing its carbon emissions and hydrogen is unquestionably going to play a large part in accomplishing this goal”, the Monaco-based entrepreneur added.  He specified no more precise timelines.

Sunfire GmbH has offered Hogan’s London-based investors an optional board seat, in return for a £20 million / €24 million stake, HydrogenOne told investors this morning.

The Dresden-headquartered engineers build patent-protected pressurised alkaline and solid oxide electrolysers, deployable on clients’ sites to make carbon-free gas for sectors currently hooked on hydrocarbons for feedstock and power.

Fuel cells for heating and off-grid power complete Sunfire’s product range.  The firm employs around 300 people, including in Norway & Switzerland.

Hogan’s minority stake contributes to Sunfire’s successful quest for € 109 million/ £ 91 million.  The German engineers today reported pledges of equity from existing investors Planet First Partners, Lightrock and US-based Carbon Direct Capital Management, as well as from new backers.

In a statement Sunfire hailed its £ 91 million sweep as marking “the largest equity raise of a green-hydrogen-focused private company anywhere to date”.

Sunfire wants to open expand electrolyser production in Germany, boosting output based on its pressurised alkaline technology towards 500 MW by 2023.

In the EU alone, current policies adopted last year call for 80GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030, compared to less than 1GW today.  Ineos’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe was prominent among British industrialists in campaigning in 2016 for Britain to leave the EU.

In the medium term Sunfire intends to ratchet up its manufacturing by multi-gigawatts, as well as deploying its solid oxide know-how in pumping ‘e-fuels’ for jet aviation, accessed through joint ventures.

HydrogenOne’s initial public offering on the LSE this July came with a remit to deliver capital growth from stakes in hydrogen’s clean variety, plus complementary assets. Via listed equities, these now make up around 10% of its assets managed.

Today’s £20 million stake in Sunfire accounts for approximately 30% of the net proceeds of HydrogenOne’s IPO three months ago.

Hogan said, “We are delighted to announce the first private capital investment for HydrogenOne”.

“Sunfire was one of the pipeline investments we identified pre-IPO and fully aligns with our strategy to invest material positions in companies that are pivotal to the increased production of clean hydrogen.

Sunfire’s CEO Nils Aldag commented, “The new funds will enable Sunfire to industrialise its two principal electrolysis technologies. By building the first in a series of production gigafactories, we aim at creating both meaningful electrolysis capacity for our customers and attractive returns for our investors.”

In a third, unrelated development, Chris Jackson’s hydrogen makers Protium have announced plans to develop a 40GW electrolyser factory in Teesside on 58 acres owned by offshore engineering services firm Wilton Universal Group.

Jackson hit the headlines in August, resigning as chair of the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, in disgust at the Johnson government’s indulgence of methane-derived ‘blue’ hydrogen.

Quitting the day before Johnson’s hydrogen strategy was published, Jackson described its blue variety as ‘an expensive distraction’.

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Solar and wind developers RES and generator-retailer Octopus this morning announced a joint pledge to build unnumbered green hydrogen plants across Britain by 2030.  Hydrogen’s green variant is electrolysed with carbon-absent electricity from methane-bereft water.

Pointedly repeating beleaguered energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s observation during the current gas crisis, the duo this morning stress their partnership will “deliver a home-grown, reliable and cost-competitive source of clean hydrogen … insulated from present and future gas price volatility.”

Octopus Renewables manages more than 300 solar, onshore wind and biomass projects valued at over £3.4 billion.  In July the company joined the Octopus Energy Group, bringing the supply and the generation side of energy together under one roof.

RES is the world’s largest independent renewable energy company, with operations across Europe, Australia and the Americas.  Over the last 40 years, RES claims to have delivered 22 GW of generation capacity across the globe.  Yesterday it announced its sale to TagEnergy of a 50 MW battery at Roaring Hill in Fife.

Eduardo Medina replaces RES’ departing chief executive Ivor Catto later this month, as Catto steps down after five years that have seen a doubling of the group’s project pipeline.

Green electrons, from guys who know their onions

The aim of the partnership announced today, the companies clarify, is “to make the most of green electrons … generated in abundance on sunny and windy days, by storing them as green hydrogen, helping the UK become more energy independent”.

The duo will work with large industrial businesses who want to be leaders in decarbonisation.  Their venture will support the government’s ambition for a green-led recovery, creating new high skilled jobs contributing to premier Johnson’s levelling-up agenda.

The UK government released its hydrogen strategy in August, calling for production and use of low-carbon hydrogen to be ramped up this decade so Britain can reach Net Zero by the government’s 2050 deadline.

The day before the strategy’s publication, Chris Jackson, head of the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, resigned in disgust at the equal emphasis given by Johnson’s government to what Jackson, a key adviser, called Whitehall’s ‘expensive indulgence’ of hydrocarbon-derived blue hydrogen

Today Alex Brierley, Octopus Renewables’ co-head said: “Supply of green hydrogen will be critical to the success of many industries in meeting the UK’s net zero targets.

“With this partnership we are providing a solution for those businesses to help deliver on the government’s ambitions.

“We invite industrial businesses that are currently using hydrogen to contact us and benefit from the early mover advantage”.

Rachel Ruffle, RES’ EMEA CEO, said; “We know that renewable-based electrification using wind and solar is the fastest way to decarbonise.

“When coupled with the production of green hydrogen, it becomes the natural choice for industry and our hard-to-abate sectors. Our partnership will enable industrial users to make the switch to reliable and cost-effective green hydrogen.”

Octopus’ expansion since April has been frenetic.  Developments prominent in a 2021 corporate narrative justifying the description ‘all killer, no filler’ have been the following:

• launching Octopus Hydrogen to exploit flex trading via its Kraken platform
• merging its generation and retail arms
• welcoming Al Gore’s investment fund into 13% ownership
• part-electrifying its UK service fleet
• supplying green H2 to carbon-free Cotswolds plane maker ZeroAvia
• buying a Spanish start-up
• absorbing 580,00 customers of failed retailer Avro
• buying into UK biomass, and
• dipping into reservoir power.

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Octopus Hydrogen, founded by CEO Will Rowe, has pledged the group’s Kraken software and other assets to ally with Innova Renewables and its sister Novus Renewable Services in making the gas variant at dispersed UK facilities.

The trio see dispersed co-location of green H2 manufacture and storage in the service of balancing the GB electricity grid as a national first.

Rowe’s entity will supply electrolysers in the 2 MW to 20 MW range, overseeing gas production at Innova’s sites.   Mobile storage units will also feature.

Production sites pumping up to 2.5 tonnes per day of zero-carbon H2 will connect directly to users via long term PPAs.

Octopus Hydrogen’s optimisation software will calculate the best times to use green electricity in electrolysis, and when to export the gas, securing the most effective – and thus the best paid – balancing on the GB grid.   Reduced curtailment by clients, as well as extending the viability of otherwise marginal projects, are also goals.

End-users for the renewably sourced gas will come from the transport and industrial sectors.

Published in August, the government’s hydrogen strategy seeks to boost UK capacity in the gas to 5GW by this decade’s end.   Chris Jackson, government adviser and head of the Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association, resigned the day before the strategy’s publication, dismayed at BEIS’s equal treatment of ‘blue’ hydrogen.  Dubbed ‘an expensive distraction’ by Jackson, the oil industry’s favoured variant is made from climate-damaging methane, salvaged from fossil fuel extraction.

Of today’s initiative in low-carbon green hydrogen, Rowe declared, “This is an incredibly exciting step forward for Octopus Hydrogen”.

“Partnering with Innova and Novus will allow us to develop and establish our decentralised model for green hydrogen production in the UK.”

“Through this partnership we will increase the amount of green hydrogen available in the UK by approximately 25 tonnes per day, enough to decarbonise over 500 long haul HGVs.”

Set up in 2015, Innova develops and operates renewable energy hubs.  It has over 40 sites in the UK under development with a combined solar and storage capacity in excess of 4GW, including more than 1.3GW of live ground mounted solar projects. It has engaged  Ernst and Young to assist its £500 million fund-raising programme.

An Innova spin-off, planning and connection consultancy Novus claims more than 40 self-sourced projects under development, and together with Innova more than 4 GW of grid capacity secured in the UK.

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Production of green hydrogen, and furthering its many embodiments in decarbonising Britain’s industrial, chemical and electrical applications are HyCap’s focus, in an increasingly crowded investment sector.   

Bamford said his team has already identified more than 40 firms in the hydrogen space which will be evaluated for investment.

“We have also discovered that investors around the world match the ambitions of global governments in wanting green-focused funds which have a positive impact on climate change,” Bamford said.

He identified a number of key drivers for hydrogen’s current spot in the investment sun. 

• the UK government is committed to 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030
• 70% of global GDP is linked to hydrogen country road maps; 
• membership of the UK’s Hydrogen Council has increased nearly five-fold in four years 

Science advisors the Climate Change Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget estimate 223TW of low-carbon hydrogen will be required by 2050.   

The Hydrogen Taskforce, a coalition of the industry’s biggest hitters including Shell, BP, EDF and Ørsted, foresees hydrogen demand at that scale reducing emissions by up to 30 megatons of CO₂ per year, the equivalent of taking 17 million cars off the road.

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One hundred per cent green gas pumped by Octopus Hydrogen, headed by William Rowe, will aid ZeroAvia’s research workshops at Cotswold Airport in Kemble, a former an RAF base.

The aircraft pioneer’s participation in the HyFlyer II project is the alliance’s focus.  Backed by the UK government, ZeroAvia is working to develop an airworthy powertrain built around a 600kW hydrogen-electric fuel cell, capable of powering a 19-seat aircraft over a 500 nautical mile range.

Founded in 2017 by Valery Mifthakov, ZeroAvia presents itself as a leader in zero-emission aviation, focusing on hydrogen-electric power at first for 10 to 20-seat aircraft used in passenger and cargo transport, agriculture and more.

From bases in California and Gloucestershire, the plane builder has already secured experimental certificates from US and UK authorities for its two prototypes. It says it is on track for commercial operations in 2024.

In Britain ZeroAvia’s expansion is supported by grants from the Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK.  The plane builder is part of the Prime Minister’s Jet Zero Council, which in June benefitted from £3 million more in public funds.

ZeroAvia and its partners in other HyFlyer projects have developed the Hydrogen Airport Refueling Ecosystem (HARE).  This includes an on-site electrolyser, used to provide green hydrogen for a breakthrough flight testing of a six-seat Piper Malibu aircraft, during HyFlyer’s first phase.

Advancing to the expanded programme, ZeroAvia identified Octopus as preferred supplier for a ready supply of the pumped gas.

Octopus Hydrogen is new within Octopus Energy. It proposes locally distributed ‘green hydrogen as a service’,  intended for use in transporting heavy goods, in energy storage and industrial applications.

Aviation accounts globally for around 2 per cent of human-induced CO₂ emissions, William Rowe, the firm’s founder and CEO, observed.

He commented: “We started Octopus Hydrogen to deliver 100% green hydrogen to those sectors that cannot be decarbonised through batteries alone.

“Aviation is a perfect use for green hydrogen. We are delighted to be supporting ZeroAvia over

the coming years with the supply of high pressure, pure and zero-carbon hydrogen.”

“So finding a way to maintain the benefits of flight without destroying our planet is a hugely exciting opportunity and critical for the UK to achieving Net Zero.”

Sergey Kiselev, ZeroAvia’s VP Europe, added: “To achieve a commercially available, certified zero emission hydrogen-electric powertrain, we need large amounts of 100 per cent green hydrogen.  We  are pleased to work with a UK-leader.

“Hydrogen-electric aviation is the only practical path to decarbonising flight at scale, as well as removing other harmful emissions from aviation that contribute to global warming.”

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Chris Jackson resigned on Monday from chairing the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, citing what he reportedly called the ‘expensive distraction’ of blue hydrogen.

Jackson leads Protium Green Solutions, a player in the fast-growing sector of ‘green’ hydrogen, where production methods include splitting the gas from water using renewable electricity.  

With carbon-heavy ‘natural’ gas as its feedstock, the competing blue hydrogen is being heavily backed by oil majors such as BP.

They see it as a ‘transitional’ route towards Net Zero, freeing up applications in transport, industrial production and pumped in blends for heating.   Hydrocarbon extractors say up to 95% of carbon can be captured for storage, as the base gas is reformed with steam.

On price, blue hydrogen at present heavily out-competes its green alternative.  Established global infrastructure of oil extractors’ cracker plants, distribution networks and trading relationships sets the carbon-less variety at a disadvantage.

Scientific advisors at the Climate Change Committee had warned ministers the Johnson government’s delayed hydrogen plans must include a detailed, costed timeline of transition from blue to green hydrogen.   No such detail appears in this week’s plan.

Jackson declared: “I believe passionately that I would be betraying future generations by remaining silent on that fact that blue hydrogen is at best an expensive distraction, and at worst a lock-in for continued fossil fuel use,”

“Our industry is at a very important crossroads, one where the decisions we make will have long-lasting effects,” Jackson continued.

“I fully appreciate the energy transition cannot be achieved by one silver bullet, and green hydrogen alone cannot solve all the worlds challenges.

“Equally, I cannot ignore or make arguments for blue hydrogen”, Jackson declared.

Scientists at two US universities agree.  A paper published last week from a team led by Cornell’s Professor Robert Howarth concludes that blue hydrogen’s greenhouse footprint can be as much as 20% more damaging than burning natural gas or coal for heat.

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Seeking to foster £ 4 billion in private development this decade, Britain’s first ever national plan for the gas outlines a £ 240 m Net-Zero Hydrogen Fund, earmarked to build production plants for either variety.

Backed by fossil supermajors such as BP, established ‘blue’ hydrogen’s cost advantage means it will continue to dominate supply in coming years, D-BEIS’s strategy accepts.   This will alarm environmentalists. A recent quantification by American scientists predicts the methane-derived variety, even with CCUS, could prove as much as 20% more harmful to the atmosphere even than established ‘natural’ gas.

Nor does Whitehall’s announcement today follow recent advice from its Committee on Climate Change, that today’s strategy should set out a quantified transition plan, a ‘blue hydrocarbon bridge’, towards the lower carbon alternative.

The government’s plan proposes only steps to spur cost cutting of the green alternative, which is electrolysed from water with renewable electricity.

D-BEIS’ document invites consultation responses on a new ‘Hydrogen Business Model’, based on periodic reverse auctions, replicating decarbonised electricity’s success under Contracts for Difference.  Speculation had predicted green hydrogen would be rolled into the existing CfD apparatus: this has not happened.

Premier Johnson’s high level Ten Point Plan for green industry in November included a headline £500 million to expand hydrogen.  Supports specified today from that pot to support switched consumption include

• £55m for an Industrial Fuel Switching Competition, targeting heavy energy consumers such as in cement and chemicals
• £10m directed to the existing Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA). £1.7m of this package has gone to delivery partner Carbon Trust.

D-BEIS promises further details on the government’s production strategy next year. Firmer definitions are pledged, including a rationale for which hydrogen varieties can be truly considered low-carbon.

Not until 2026 will ministers take definitive decisions shaping hydrogen’s role in decarbonising heat, the strategy confirms. Current regulations limit hydrogen to a 23% mix with conventional supply.  Small trials of a 20% solution are under way,  Ofgem and the Health and Safety Executive are shaping technical trials, and today’s document seeks industry responses.

Raising that cap will impose trillions in costs of replacing boilers and other equipment, including for households.   The Times reported at the weekend that consumers could be offered up to £7,000 in a revised £ 400 million scrappage scheme for home boilers, a sum to be quadrupled at the Prime Minister’s insistence. Confirmation may come next spring, the piece speculated.

Switching heavy transport including ships and trucks away from diesel burning receives only high-level attention in D-BEIS’s strategy today.

It repeats existing initiatives such as this year’s £120 million Zero-Emission Regional Areas scheme for buses, and the £15 million ‘Green Fuels Green Skies’ competition for sustainable aviation.   In no case, though, does the plan specify target shares for substituting hydrogen against existing fuels.

For network operators, ENA chief executive David Smith said the government should have shown more ambition.  The strategy was “a much needed and welcome first step”, Smith said. But he added:

“We need further recognition that for hydrogen to play its part in Net Zero, producing 5GW of hydrogen by 2030 will not be enough.

“We must set our sights higher, towards a figure twice that amount.”

For RenewableUK, chief executive Dan McGrail was disappointed:  “Overall, the strategy doesn’t focus nearly enough on developing the UK’s world-leading green hydrogen industry.

“In the year when the UK is hosting the biggest climate change summit for years, we fear that international investors in renewable hydrogen may compare this strategy to those of other countries and vote with their feet”, McGrail said.

At the CBI, policy director Matthew Fell also expressed reservations: “Hydrogen is an area where the UK can lead by example on the global stage….”.

“However, to truly capitalise on its large-scale economic opportunities, and unlock the private sector finance needed”, Fell added, “firms will now be looking for the government to provide detailed policies and standards for hydrogen production and application.”

D-BEIS’s hydrogen strategy is here.

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