One year on from announcing a target of producing 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030, Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) says it’s on track.
In an interview for RenewEconomy’s Energy Insiders podcast, chief executive Julie Shuttleworth says it is ‘looking very achievable’.
“It is absolutely possible, but it still needs a massive effort. Of course, no one has done this at this scale before,” she adds.
The technology has been proved in principle. Late last year, the company announced that it had designed and built its own electrolyser in its Western Australia facility, producing industrial grade hydrogen.
“The team spent thousands of hours on this project, facing setbacks along the way, but they pushed forward and managed to produce hydrogen before their stretch target date,” commented chairman Dr Andrew Forrest.
Wind turbines in the morning mist in Western Australia.
“This is not the first time FFI’s team of experts have beaten their stretch targets. Earlier this year, FFI retrofitted a huge mining haul truck to run on hydrogen, producing only steam, in just 130 days.”
Solar panels going into the company’s Dawson Road facility will mean the electrolyser will be able to produce green hydrogen by the end of this year. And the company’s also working on a number of other power generation projects, including wind and solar plus battery.
The 15 million-tonne production target is startlingly ambitious, given that the current worldwide figure is less than a million tonnes.
But according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) 80 million tonnes will be required by 2030 for the world to be on track to net zero emissions by 2050.
And in its Global Hydrogen Review 2021, the IEA says low-carbon and zero-carbon hydrogen are about to see significant cost declines and widespread global growth.
FFI’s strategy is to move fast, through acquisitions, technology development and partnerships.
Solar panels like these pictured will be going into the FFI’s Dawson Road facility and will mean the electrolyser will be able to produce green hydrogen by the end of this year.
It’s signing deals for green hydrogen production facilities at a dizzying pace, in countries including Indonesia, Canada, PNG, Jordan, India and Brazil.
And it’s planning to produce electrolysers at scale by next year, when its new global green energy manufacturing (GEM) centre in Gladstone, Queensland, comes online.
Building up to 2GW of electrolysers per year, this is expected to be the largest electrolyser factory in the world, but will also manufacture other vital components, such as solar panels, wind towers, battery storage and cabling.
And the strategy is pulling in customers. FFI recently signed a deal with JCB and Ryze Hydrogen to take a significant percentage of its green hydrogen output, for example – making the partnership the UK’s largest supplier.
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If clean hydrogen was used exclusively to decarbonise transport and heavy industry, it would be a success story worth shouting from the rooftops, but there are so many other uses for the fuel.
A host of products that currently rely on natural gas and other forms of energy for their manufacture have the potential to take part in the decarbonisation revolution that is sweeping other industries.
For instance, last week, Unilever said it had begun to trial 100% hydrogen in the manufacture of personal care and home care products at its Port Sunlight factory in the Northwest of England.
A host of products that currently rely on natural gas and other forms of energy for their manufacture have the potential to take part in the hydrogen decarbonisation revolution that is sweeping other industries.
Heralded as the first large-scale demonstration of 100% hydrogen firing in a consumer goods production environment anywhere in the world, Unilever plans to use hydrogen to make products including washing powder Persil and hair care brand TRESemmé.
The trial involves the use of hydrogen to fire a boiler that provides steam for the production process. The results will inform the use of the clean fuel in manufacturing processes across the UK as it seeks to reach its net zero targets.
The trial, led by Progressive Energy, is part of the HyNet Industrial Fuel Switching Programme being carried out by HyNet, the hydrogen cluster around the Port of Liverpool backed by the likes of Eni, Essar and Cadent. Trials such as the one being carried out by Unilever will ensure companies are ready to go once HyNet starts producing hydrogen in bulk by the mid-2020s.
Hydrogen, produced by Vertex Hydrogen, will be carried to customers via the UK’s first 100% hydrogen pipeline network, being developed by Cadent.
Other sectors carrying out trials through the HyNet program include glass, food and drink, paper, chemicals, automotive and metals. NSG-Pilkington in August 2021 became the first company globally to manufacture glass using hydrogen. Among HyNet’s offtake partners is Ryze Hydrogen, which will supply the hydrogen fuel to Wrightbus to power its fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Protium is building a 40 MW green hydrogen facility in Teesside, which could help Quorn displace some of Quorn’s natural gas demand, saving 13,200 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
HyNet will initially produce blue hydrogen – made from hydrocarbons with the CO2 captured and stored or reused – with plans to produce green hydrogen – made by splitting water with renewable energy – at a later stage. By 2030, HyNet will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 million tonnes a year, the equivalent to removing 4 million cars from the road.
Hydrogen also has the potential to dramatically reduce emissions from the food and beverage industry, which is responsible for 35% of the UK’s total CO2 emissions.
In February, meat-free food manufacturer Quorn became the latest company in the sector to begin exploring opportunities and has teamed up with green hydrogen producer Protium and energy company Petrofac to test the feasibility of supplying green hydrogen via pipeline to its production facility in Billingham in the northeast of England.
Protium is building a 40 MW green hydrogen facility in Teesside, which could help Quorn displace some of Quorn’s natural gas demand, saving 13,200 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
Clean hydrogen is being explored by an ever-increasing number of sectors to help companies achieve their net zero goals, heavy industry and transport in particular. As more businesses realise hydrogen is the solution they’ve been looking for, demand will soar.
Protium is also working with brewers, both large and small, to leverage hydrogen to decarbonise their businesses. On the larger side is Budweiser Brewing Group, the UK arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev, is exploring the use of green hydrogen at Magor brewery in South Wales, one of the largest in the UK. Hydrogen will fuel production as well as power its logistics, including heavy goods vehicles and forklift trucks.
A smaller, but still significant project sees Protium partnering with Canadian hydrogen investor Jericho Energy Ventures and Scotland’s Bruichladdich Distillery, which plans to use hydrogen combustion technology to heat the stills used to create its whiskey and artisanal gin, The Botanist.
Jericho Energy Ventures’ wholly owned subsidiary Hydrogen Technologies recently announced it has signed deals with two of North America’s largest food manufacturers to collaborate on the deployment of its zero-emission hydrogen boiler solution.
Clean hydrogen is being explored by an ever-increasing number of sectors to help companies achieve their net zero goals. As more businesses realise hydrogen is the solution they’ve been looking for, demand is likely to soar.
To meet that expected demand, we need to invest in hydrogen production today, with both capital and a regulatory structure that supports hydrogen investment. Our net zero future is relying on it.
To learn more about HYCAP click here.
Green hydrogen – produced by splitting water with renewable energy – is cheaper than grey – produced from fossil fuels – in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and China, according to BloombergNEF.
BNEF’s study is not the first to make the claim: consultancy ICIS came to a similar conclusion last November. At the time, there was a sense that this was an interesting anomaly that would soon disappear once winter had passed and supply issues were resolved.
What is becoming clear is that this is likely to become a long-lasting, if not permanent, state of affairs. BNEF’s calculations were made on March 2, before Russia threatened to cut off European gas supplies if it imposed an embargo on its oil imports, pushing prices up by almost 50%.
Specifically, BNEF sees the levelized cost (that’s without subsidies or carbon prices) of green hydrogen in EMEA, made using Western electrolysers, at $4.84-$6.68/kg compared with $6.71/kg for grey hydrogen made from natural gas. In China, the gap is even wider, with green, made with Chinese electrolysers, at $3.22/kg versus $5.28/kg for grey.
Russia have threatened to cut off European gas supplies if Europe impose an embargo on its oil imports, pushing prices up by almost 50%.
While we may all hope that Russia would abruptly reverse policy and pull out of Ukraine, that seems highly unlikely with the bombardment of Ukrainian cities only intensifying in response to resistance. And that means natural gas prices are likely to remain in the stratosphere – they are currently 6 times higher than a year ago in Europe.
“These prices could rise further as the conflict in Ukraine continues,” wrote the authors of the paper Ukraine War Makes Green Hydrogen Competitive. “With Europe looking to wean itself off Russian gas imports, which account for a third of the continent’s supplies, gas markets seem set to face substantially higher prices for the foreseeable future.”
These figures also don’t take into account the expected rapid decline in the price of green hydrogen in the coming years. Wood Mackenzie said in December that some countries would be able to produce green hydrogen for $1/kg by 2030, while US electrolyser maker Ohmium has said it will be able to achieve that price in India by 2025.
Wood Mackenzie said in December that some countries would be able to produce green hydrogen for $1/kg by 2030, while US electrolyser maker Ohmium has said it will be able to achieve that price in India by 2025.
All this adds up to a huge signal to invest in hydrogen production, storage and use. Clean hydrogen was a good idea before natural gas prices shot up in recent months; it is an even better one now.
The Energy and Utilities Alliance, an industry group, yesterday called for the UK to break its reliance on Russian natural gas and accelerate the development of the country’s hydrogen industry.
We could not agree more.
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Europe is in a terrible bind thanks to its dependence on Russian oil and gas. With one hand we are doing our best to cripple the Russian economy with sanctions in response to its invasion of Ukraine. With the other, we are putting money in Vladimir Putin’s pocket every time we turn on the central heating, run a bath or fill up at the petrol station.
This is not a completely new situation: in 2014, Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine over a pricing dispute, leading to fears that flows to the EU, which then as now relied on Russia for about one third of its gas, would be interrupted. A series of articles appeared in the press questioning with some urgency how we could wean ourselves off Russian gas.
Most of the talk at the time was about U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and calculations that Russia would not want to push its biggest customer to diversify fuels. U.S. LNG exports arrived, but not in sufficient volume to change the dynamics of the global natural gas market, while Europe, including the UK, has done a good job of replacing coal-based electricity with renewable energy, but is as reliant as ever on Russian gas.
Europe, and the UK (although less so the latter), are still reliant on Russian oil and gas, for uses from filling our vehicles to heating our homes.
So, is anything different this time? We would argue yes. For one, motivation has never been higher. European governments and citizens are shocked and outraged at Russia’s actions in Ukraine and there is a genuine fear that Putin could use energy supplies as a weapon in response to sanctions – there is evidence that he has already done so this winter by curtailing supplies and driving up natural gas prices to record levels.
Secondly, there is a genuine alternative. Hydrogen.
Green hydrogen can be produced by any country with an electrolyser and some renewable energy resources. In the UK, we have some of the world’s most favourable conditions for offshore wind and have done a good job of opening out resources up to investment. In February, the government announced it would double the frequency of renewable energy tenders to yearly. In January, Scotland completed one of the largest offshore wind tenders in the world, more than doubling the UK’s existing capacity.
The UK is also a world leader in electrolyser technology with companies including CPH2 and ITM Power, while innovators like Johnson Matthey produce some of the essential components for these machines, having very openly turned their back on batteries. Further along the supply chain, companies such as Ryze Hydrogen are creating the transport and supply infrastructure needed to get hydrogen to end users, while Wrightbus and JCB are building vehicles and plant machinery that run on the clean fuel.
UK company Ryze Hydrogen are creating the transport and supply infrastructure needed to get hydrogen to end users.
A quick win for the UK would be to expedite its decision on allowing hydrogen blending of up to 20% in the country’s natural gas pipeline network. According to the government’s hydrogen strategy, published last year, an indicative assessment of the value for money case for hydrogen blending is set to be published in the third quarter of this year, with a final policy decision likely in late 2023.
The UK’s Energy Network Association said mid-January the UK gas grid will be ready for 20% hydrogen by 2023 and all five of the country’s gas grid companies will meet the government’s target for hydrogen readiness.
Trials have already been run. HyDeploy, the first project in the UK to blend hydrogen into a gas network, saw 100 homes and 30 university buildings on a private gas network at Keele University receive the blended gas for a period of 18 months ending in spring 2021. With a 20% blend, no changes need to be made to domestic appliances.
Furthermore, the UK’s first demonstration and testing homes with household gas appliances fuelled entirely by hydrogen were officially opened in July 2021, by the Energy Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan, at Northern Gas Networks’ innovation site in Gateshead. The two semi-detached houses have been built in a partnership between gas distributors Northern Gas Networks (NGN), Cadent and the Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), to enable the public to experience a zero-emission hydrogen gas-fuelled home of the future.
The innovative hydrogen project has been produced with support from the government’s Hy4heat innovation programme. Hydrogen boilers have already been developed by leading manufacturers Baxi Heating and Worcester Bosch and prototypes of fires, cookers and hobs are also available form partners working with BEIS on Hy4Heat projects.
UK domestic consumption accounts for more than one third of the country’s total natural gas consumption, meaning blending alone during a transition phase could make a significant dent in the need to import gas from places like Russia. Moving that decision forward would create a huge source of early demand for green hydrogen, pushing down production costs and creating a virtuous circle for the sector.
Green hydrogen can be produced by any country with an electrolyser and some renewable energy resources. In the UK, we have some of the world’s most favourable conditions for offshore wind and have done a good job of opening out resources up to investment.
The country’s renewable energy capacity is growing all the time, but we will always need natural gas for power unless we invest in long-term energy storage. Clean hydrogen is one of the leading contenders.
UK industry, one of the country’s other major users of natural gas, is already making huge strides in the use of hydrogen to decarbonise operations with hubs being created in places like H2Teesside, Zero Carbon Humber, and the HyNet cluster in the northwest.
More attention has been focused on Russia’s power in the natural gas market, but it also supplies Europe with about one third of its oil and the shift away from petrol and diesel is another important plank of the continent’s energy independence.
Battery electric vehicles have stolen a march on passenger vehicles, but big questions loom over the environmental sustainability of battery materials and the danger of becoming dependent on another monopoly producer: China. It is widely acknowledged that China now owns approximately 80% of the battery supply chain.
Hydrogen fuel cells, and now prototype hydrogen combustion engines, are showing their worth in trucks, buses and plant machinery. Hydrogen-powered passenger vehicles are increasingly being seen as the tortoise that could yet catch the hare of battery electric vehicles in that race too.
We have the motivation to loosen our dependency on Russian hydrocarbons, and we have the means. Let’s make it happen.
To learn more about HYCAP click here.
Hydrogen combustion engines are coming to the zero-emission vehicle party, and, in some cases, are dressed rather well for the occasion.
In the past week alone, Renault, Toyota and Yamaha have announced vehicles or engines that burn hydrogen instead of converting it to electricity with a fuel cell. On Feb. 17, Toyota and Yamaha said they are investing in hydrogen by working together on a hydrogen-powered 5.0 litre V8 engine. The following day, Renault teased a new concept car, to be revealed in May, that will feature a hydrogen combustion engine (HCE).
Renault provided very few details beyond a cool image that suggests the vehicle, styled by recently appointed design chief Gilles Vidal, is likely to be an SUV.
Yamaha said its recent hydrogen investments have resulted in an experimental engine delivers 449 bhp at 6,800 rpm and 398 lb-ft at 3,600 rpm, slightly below the petrol equivalent that is currently used in a Lexus RC F sports coupé. Importantly, it seems to make the people who drive it happy.
“Hydrogen engines have an innately friendly feel that makes them easy to use even without resorting to electronic driving aids,” Yamaha said. “Everyone who came to test drive the prototype car would start off somewhat sceptical but emerged from the car with a big smile on their face at the end.”
And this could be the key to the future of HCE passenger vehicles: enjoyment.
Renault, Toyota and Yamaha have announced vehicles or engines that burn hydrogen instead of converting it to electricity with a fuel cell.
Fuel cells and batteries have advantages over HCEs in terms of efficiency and maintenance costs, but if you like the sound of a revving engine, they are also somewhat boring. Battery-electric racing has been described as rather sterile due to the lack of noise. Ferrari is still trying to work out how to retain its signature engine noise when it eventually launches an EV.
HCEs sound just like petrol engines but don’t produce any carbon emissions. If you drive a luxury car you’re probably not as concerned about cost as most, but you’re at least as likely to be worried about your environmental impact.
The technology to deliver high-performance HCE vehicles is already here.
Toyota last year entered an HCE-powered Corolla Sport hatchback into the Japanese Super Taikyu series. Kawasaki and Yamaha are looking into joint research on HCEs for two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles. Chinese automaker GAC Motor said in October it had successfully tested an HCE.
Hydrogen is all set to play a major part in the zero-emission future of passenger cars.
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There are a host of compelling reasons for nations to move quickly on developing a clean hydrogen strategy: net zero goals, cleaner air, and energy security are among the most cited.
First movers are also likely to reap broad economic benefits that come from decarbonising industry, whether it be steel, chemicals, manufacturing or food production. And that means job creation.
A report this week out of Dublin City University said developing a clean hydrogen industry could create 50,000 jobs in Ireland, coupled with a warning that the Republic could miss the opportunity if their government doesn’t publish its hydrogen strategy promptly.
The report pointed to the €150 billion of financial support pledged by the EU for hydrogen projects over the coming decades. Ireland’s wind resources would allow it to produce enough hydrogen to replace €5 billion of annual fuel imports, it said.
The UK government estimated in its Hydrogen Strategy released last August the hydrogen economy could create 9,000 high-quality jobs by 2030, potentially rising to 100,000 jobs by 2050.
The hydrogen economy could create 9,000 high-quality jobs by 2030, potentially rising to 100,000 jobs by 2050.
But those jobs are contingent on the UK taking advantage of the opportunity that lays before it. Other nations are also making a play for the future of energy with major investments in clean hydrogen.
Just this week, France announced €4.5 billion of support for “innovative technologies” such as hydrogen and carbon capture to help decarbonisation of heavy industry, while on the same day ArcelorMittal said it would spend €1.7 billion replacing two of three coal-fired blast furnaces with direct-reduced iron units powered by hydrogen.
There are thousands of British jobs that are indirectly reliant on the UK getting its hydrogen strategy right.
The steel industry employs about 33,000 people in the UK and a further 42,000 in related supply chains. Cost-competitive clean hydrogen can help keep those jobs in the UK.
The steel industry employs about 33,000 people in the UK and a further 42,000 in related supply chains. Cost-competitive clean hydrogen can help keep those jobs in the UK.
The industry has been under pressure in recent years as it struggled to compete with lower cost competition. One of the key challenges it has faced has been uncompetitive energy costs. A report last year by trade body UK Steel said UK steel producers pay about £50 million a year in excess energy cost compared with foreign competitors. Domestic firms spend a whopping 86% more on electricity than German mills and 62% more than French competitors.
Further afield, petrostates including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Russia are investing billions of dollars in clean and low-carbon hydrogen production with the aim of exporting excess output to countries like the UK.
In India, Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire chairman of Reliance Industries, is planning to invest $75 billion in renewable energy infrastructure, including electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen, and plans to become the world’s biggest producer of blue hydrogen this decade as it looks to dominate the global clean hydrogen market.
A fleet of the world’s first zero-emission hydrogen powered double deck buses hit the streets of London, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Dublin and Belfast with manufacturer Wrightbus announcing that 2022 will see them double production thanks to massive demand for their Zero-emission transport technology.
The global energy map is being redrawn by the emergence of green hydrogen, which can be produced locally by any country with a source of renewable energy and an electrolyser. The UK has an opportunity to end its dependence on imported energy and even become a net exporter if it makes the right moves during this period of unprecedented change.
Britain is a hot bed of clean hydrogen innovation with world-leading companies in electrolysis, such as INEOS, CPH2, ITM Power, and Johnson Matthey, while companies such as Ryze Hydrogen are building transport and distribution infrastructure while Wrightbus and JCB are building vehicles, plant machinery and an award-winning hydrogen combustion engine that runs on clean hydrogen fuel.
The UK is also emerging as a global centre for hydrogen-powered aviation with companies such as ZeroAvia and ZeroPetroleum pushing the boundaries of what is possible with hydrogen fuels.
The UK has enviable offshore wind resources to create green hydrogen and has started to build hydrogen hubs around industrial clusters such as H2Teesside, Zero Carbon Humber and HyNet North West, with the announcement this week of two “green freeports” in Scotland where hydrogen is also expected to become a key area of focus.
The only piece of the puzzle missing is the shape of government support for the UK’s clean hydrogen industry. Get that right and there is no reason the UK’s hydrogen economy cannot reach its potential and secure thousands of jobs in the process.
To learn more about HYCAP click here.
Germany, Austria and Denmark will get 250 new hydrogen refuelling stations by 2026 thanks to an agreement between multinational energy company Phillips 66 and Swiss hydrogen specialist H2 Energy.
The network of hydrogen stations will include existing JET petrol stations across the three countries, as well as some new sites on major transport routes.
It will see Germany extend its existing lead in hydrogen refuelling stations in Europe. At the end of last year, it had 101 of the continent’s 228, while Asia had about 360 and North America 86, of which 60 were in California, according to data from H2stations.org.
Germany, Austria and Denmark will get 250 new hydrogen refuelling stations by 2026
The UK, however, is lagging with just 19 hydrogen stations, seven of which are clustered in and around London.
Vehicles fuelled by hydrogen produce no emissions apart from water, while the fuel itself is carbon neutral when produced either through electrolysis of water with renewable energy (green hydrogen) or the carbon emissions are captured during traditional production (blue hydrogen).
Globally, a record 142 hydrogen refuelling stations opened in 2021, bringing the global total to 685, while a further 252 were in the pipeline, suggesting a new record will be set in 2022.
The Phillips 66—H2 Energy joint venture will bring together hydrogen supply, refuelling infrastructure and demand, which is expected to be boosted by H2 Energy’s stake in Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, the European arm of its hydrogen fuel-cell truck business. H2 Energy sells an electrolyser-based hydrogen production solution and is building a 1 GW green hydrogen project in Esbjerg, Denmark.
North America currently has 86 hydrogen refuelling stations, of which 60 are in California, according to data from H2stations.org.
While the UK has been slow off the mark with the development of a hydrogen refuelling network at scale, there are plenty of projects in the pipeline. Last May, Element 2 announced plans to build 800 hydrogen pumps by 2027 and 2,000 by 2030 to serve the UK’s heavy goods and municipal vehicles.
In October, BP announced it will assess the feasibility of building a network of 25 hydrogen refuelling stations across the UK to support the rollout of fuel-cell trucks from Daimler Truck to UK customers from 2025.
Moreover, the many industrial hydrogen hubs being developed around the nation all have plans to use their production to power the vehicles that frequent them.
For instance, in November, the Port of Shoreham in West Sussex granted H2 Green permission to produce hydrogen through electrolysis to power the Port’s fleet of heavy goods vehicles and forklifts before ramping up production to serve the 800 HGVs that use Port of Shoreham daily for other organisations.
Then there are the numerous private hydrogen refuelling facilities provided by the likes of Ryze Hydrogen that serve municipal transport such as Wrightbus’s hydrogen buses.
The obstacle for the UK to avoid is falling foul of the chicken-and-egg problem that has held back the use of hydrogen in transport: a lack of refuelling infrastructure deters investment in hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, which creates a lack of demand for refuelling stations.
Projects such as BP’s alliance with Daimler Truck and H2 Energy’s relationship with Hyundai show how this can be overcome by matching supply and demand.
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In the hydrocarbon era, influence in energy markets was largely a function of luck – those blessed with the biggest deposits of crude oil and natural gas became exporters and gained the power to set, or at least shape, prices, while those without were importers and subject to fluctuations in market forces.
Those dynamics have shaped the world for decades, bolstering regimes in the likes of Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while intermittently pressuring the economies of major energy importers, such as India and Turkey.
For decades the world has been shaped by the dynamics of crude oil and natural gas deposits, bolstering regimes like Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The UK has sat somewhere in the middle of the pack, enjoying at times the financial benefits of North Sea oil and gas, but also, as a net importer of petroleum products since 2013 and natural gas since 2004, increasingly prey to periods of extreme prices in recent decades.
The emergence of clean hydrogen as a major future source of energy effectively throws all the pieces of the global energy jigsaw into the air. Where they land this time will depend less on luck and more on industrial strategy, because green hydrogen can be produced by any country with some renewable energy resources and an electrolyser to turn water into H2.
For sure, some countries have more in the way of renewable energy resources than others, allowing them to produce hydrogen more cheaply and in greater volume than others – the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) points to Australia, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the United States as best placed to become major exporters.
Pictured: Wind turbines in western Australia. The International Renewable Energy Agency has pointed to the country as one of the future most powerful exporters of hydrogen.
However, there are a far greater number of countries that can produce clean hydrogen at scale, meaning fewer opportunities for the market to be manipulated by a few powerful producers.
Hydrogen could account for 20% of global energy use by 2050, with 30% of that traded across borders.
“Green hydrogen will bring new and diverse participants to the market, diversify routes and supplies and shift power from the few to the many,” IRENA Director General Francesco La Camera wrote in a recent report. “With international co-operation, the hydrogen market could be more democratic and inclusive, offering opportunities for developed and developing countries alike.”
Insights also point to a relatively small window during which these changes are going to take place. The race for technology leadership will be most intense in the current decade, while demand is expected to take off in the 2030s.
There are numerous areas within the hydrogen supply chain where technology leadership can be obtained, from production to transportation and storage, and end uses in industry, transport, heating and power generation.
A look at hydrogen patents shows OECD countries dominating research and development (R&D) spending, but China catching up quickly (government spending on hydrogen R&D increased six-fold in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency). Japan is the leader in fuel cell research with about 40% of patents, followed by Europe, South Korea and the United States. Fuel cells account for about 41% of all hydrogen patent activity. Europe leads in patents for hydrogen production and storage, which account for 36% and 21% of hydrogen patents, respectively.
Japan has been credited as global leader of fuel-cell research for owning 40% of patents.
Electrolysers are expected to be a $50-60 billion market opportunity by 2050, while fuel cells could be $21-25 billion. Currently, most of the world’s electrolysers are manufactured in Europe, but it remains a fractured market with plenty of opportunity for consolidation, scale and power production costs.
However, Chinese electrolysers are much cheaper European ones, and able to produce hydrogen for $300/kW, 75% less than Western machines. New technologies, such as proton exchange membranes, may provide an opportunity for European and US manufacturers to retain market share.
In this area alone, the UK has a number of leading companies, including INEOS, CPH2 and ITM Power, while innovators like Johnson Matthey produce some of the essential components for these machines. Elsewhere in the supply chain, companies such as Ryze Hydrogen are building transport and distribution infrastructure while Wrightbus and JCB are building vehicles and plant machinery and an award-winning hydrogen combustion engine that runs on clean hydrogen fuel.
While not blessed with the world’s best solar irradiation, the UK does have some of the best offshore wind resources with which to create green hydrogen, something it is already beginning to exploit.
The UK has some of the best offshore wind resources with which to create green hydrogen.
The opportunities for the UK are many, but support is needed at this critical period in the development of the hydrogen economy if it is to make the most of them.
Research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows that as of August last year, UK targeted support available for hydrogen through 2030 was below Italy, France, Germany and Spain. The UK also falls short when it comes to government clean hydrogen targets, with our 5 GW less than France’s 6.5 GW and Germany’s 10 GW.
The UK government is moving in the right direction when it comes to hydrogen strategy but needs to increase its ambition if it is to grasp this once in a generation opportunity.
The creation this week of the UK Hydrogen Policy Commission, made up of politicians from across the political spectrum as well as private-sector experts and academics, to advise the government in this crucial area will hopefully create a greater sense of urgency and accelerate the UK’s journey towards a hydrogen-powered future.
We will be watching closely.
To learn more about HYCAP click here.
Clean hydrogen is again proving itself to be the solution of choice for decarbonising industries other technologies cannot reach.
Canadian Pacific, owner of Canada’s second-largest rail network, has released footage of its hydrogen fuel-cell powered locomotive, a first for the North American continent.
The train, converted from a diesel-powered SD40-2F, has debuted on the track and will soon begin field-testing under the name H20EL (Hydrogen Zero-Emission Locomotive), Canadian Pacific said.
Like its diesel predecessor, the H20EL locomotive will haul freight across Canada and the United States on Canadian Pacific’s 20,000 km of track. The engine is powered by a combination of fuel cells from Ballard Power Systems and batteries.
Earlier in January, Canadian Pacific ordered an additional eight 200 kW fuel-cell modules from Ballard as it seeks to convert another two locomotives this year. It also plans to build its own hydrogen production and refuelling facilities in Calgary and Edmonton, including an electrolyser.
Canadian Pacific announced its hydrogen program in December 2020, noting at the time almost all of North America’s freight-rail fleet is powered by diesel, making it a significant source of greenhouse emissions as well as other polluting particles.
Like its diesel predecessor, the H20EL locomotive will haul freight across Canada and the United States on Canadian Pacific’s 20,000 km of track.
Rail is already a more efficient and environmentally friendly way of moving people and goods. While it accounts for about 8% of the world’s motorised passenger movements and 7% of freight transport, it uses just 2% of the world’s transport energy demand, according to the International Energy Agency.
Those numbers are likely to improve even further as already electrified lines become powered by renewable energy – replacing just one diesel regional train with one hydrogen train reduces annual CO2 emissions equivalent to 400 cars – but huge swathes of rail network have not been electrified and thus continue to rely on diesel.
In the UK, just 42% of the track is electrified and the UK government wants to phase out the diesel-powered locomotives that ply the rest of the network by 2040. Hydrogen is leading the race to replace those diesel trains, which make up about one third of the British fleet.
The UK’s first hydrogen-powered train made its maiden journey in September 30 and was showcased at COP26 in Glasgow last November.
The UK’s first hydrogen-powered train made its maiden journey in September 30 and was showcased at COP26 in Glasgow last November.
A few days later, Alstom, the largest train manufacturer in the UK, signed an MOU with British rolling stock owner Eversholt Rail to deliver the UK’s first new hydrogen train fleet. The 10 three-car trains will be designed by Alstom and built in Britain once contracts are signed early this year.
Alstom has already designed and built a regional passenger train – the Coradia iLint – for the continental European market. It has been tested in regular passenger service in Germany since 2018 and 14 of the are due to be delivered beginning in 2022. Austrian Federal Railways began a similar test in 2020.
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Let’s be absolutely clear. The energy crisis we are undergoing has one source: natural gas.
The cost of day-ahead UK natural gas rose from about 50 pence a therm in January 2021 to a whopping 450 pence in mid-December and was trading just below 200 pence this week. That has pushed next-day wholesale power prices from about £90/MWh this time last year to almost £230/MWh in September before falling towards £200 in the following months.
The cost of renewable energy, by contrast, has not moved, and has been below the wholesale electricity price for several months, leading to a situation where subsidies are actually being repaid to the government by wind and solar projects.
The causes of the surge in gas prices are numerous but some are clearer than others. International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol last week accused Russia of reducing gas supplies to Europe by about a third, stoking the continent’s energy crisis as it seeks to negotiate with NATO and win approval for a gas pipeline into Germany, Nordstream 2, while threatening an invasion of Ukraine.
Despite having substantial gas reserves in the North Sea, the UK is a net importer of the fuel on which it relies for about one third of its electricity generation and 75% of its household heating. The North Sea provides the UK with about 50% of its natural gas, a figure that is expected to fall dramatically in the coming years as dwindling reserves become more expensive to exploit and investment declines.
The North Sea currently provides the UK with about 50% of its natural gas, a figure that will fall dramatically as reserves dwindle.
Energy security is a complex issue and there is more to achieving it than reducing imports. However, if a key source of your energy is as unreliable as Russia, your energy security has clearly been compromised.
Bolstering energy security has many dimensions, but a key piece of the puzzle is sitting right under our noses in the form of hydrogen.
“Price volatility has been a feature of the oil and gas system,” Francesco La Camera, director-general of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), told the Financial Times this month. “Moving to the new energy system, where hydrogen plays a significant role, brings us less volatility.”
The UK is a net importer of gas on which it relies for about one third of its electricity generation and 75% of its household heating.
Hydrogen could meet 20% of the world’s energy needs by 2050. If its full potential is realised the strong likelihood is we’ll then be in a world where global emissions have been cut sufficiently to meet the Paris climate goals and limit warming to 1.5C. That would significantly change the geopolitics of the global energy industry, which is currently dominated by a small number of oil and gas producers who can influence prices by manipulating supply.
“What is happening right now really emphasises the need for a faster transition,” said Elizabeth Press, IRENA’s director of planning. “It shows that we need a different energy mix that will make it safer, secure and more diverse.”
One of the major appeals of green hydrogen, in particular, is that it can be produced locally by any country with the necessary renewable energy resources, meaning less need for international trade. A greater diversity of major producers – IRENA points to Australia, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the US as best placed to become exporters – also means a reduced likelihood of the market being hijacked by a few bad actors.
The cost of renewable energy has been below the wholesale electricity price for several months, leading to a situation where subsidies are actually being repaid to the government by wind and solar projects.
The UK is already making great strides in this nascent industry: hydrogen hubs are being created across the country around existing industrial clusters on the Humber, Teesside, and the west coast of Scotland, among others; British companies, including Wrightbus, JCB, and Ryze Hydrogen are leading the development of the technologies that will drive the hydrogen economy, while Cranfield is emerging as a focus of innovation for the aviation industry’s exploration of hydrogen fuels.
Boris Johnson’s government has been making the right noises about hydrogen and published its Hydrogen Strategy in August of last year, but it is yet to announce the funding mechanism through which it has pledged to support a goal of building 5 GW of clean hydrogen capacity by 2030. It is also yet to show any preference for blue hydrogen (derived from natural gas with carbon capture) or green hydrogen (made from water and renewable energy).
The market is waiting eagerly for both. It needs certainty to make the necessary investments and it needs the right mechanism to drive growth in the industry at this crucial stage in its development. Yet, even if the government does come through on its promises, which we expect it to, it is hard to describe its hydrogen plans as ambitious.
As Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said in a recent interview with the Yorkshire Post, the government’s current investment in hydrogen development is dwarfed by the amounts being committed in France and Germany. France is aiming for 6.5 GW of green hydrogen production by 2030 and Germany is targeting 10 GW, twice the UK’s target for both blue and green hydrogen.
Sir Keir Starmer pictured behind the wheel of a Wrightbus zero-emission hydrogen bus, manufactured in the UK, January 2022. The leader of the opposition has long called for greater commitment to hydrogen from the UK government.
“The Government should be investing at scale in hydrogen,” he said. “There’s this huge opportunity in relation to hydrogen because of our natural resources but it is an opportunity that I fear the government will miss because it lacks the strategy and the ambition.”
We have no political affiliation here at HYCAP, but the man has a point.
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Hydrogen has taken another step into the world of elite motorsport with the unveiling of the first Dakar Rally vehicle to be powered by the clean fuel.
Cars and trucks competing in the world-famous event will be required to use alternative fuels from 2024, with bikes, quads and lightweight vehicles following suit from 2030.
Dakar Rally veteran Guerlain Chicherit will take the wheel of the car which is being entered by GCK Motorsport in collaboration with German engineering company FEV.
Green Corp Konnection (GCK) was founded by Chicherit and industrialist Eric Boudot in 2020 with the aim of developing technologies for use in motor sport and consumer mobility. It has three divisions: Technology and Industry; Energy; and Motorsport.
“We are very proud to be presenting the first ever hydrogen cross-country competition car with an integrated fuel cell,” said Boudot, CEO of Green Corp Konnection and GCK Motorsport. “For Green Corp Konnection, motorsport represents a unique innovation laboratory to develop technological solutions that we will then be able to offer to clients through our industrial activities.”
The car weighs 2,300 kg and carries 30 kg of hydrogen in 4 certified tanks, allowing it to race a 250 km rally stage. The 2-gear electric motor will produce a maximum power output of 400 hp in line with FIA regulations and will have a top speed of 180 km/h (111.8 mph).
Testing on “real cross-country conditions” will begin in the second half of 2022 before taking part in selected stages of the 2023 Dakar Rally.
“I think if the ASO didn’t introduce these new regulations, the sport would be in some risk for the future, because manufacturers don’t want to support motorsport programs which are not green orientated,” said Chicherit, who has won three Dakar stages and finished fifth overall in 2010.
“Biofuel is the first step, the intermediate technology, and then in two- or three-years’ time, hydrogen will take over,” he said.
Hydrogen’s entry into the Dakar Rally follows the launch in 2021 of Extreme E, featuring the electric off-road SUV Spark Odyssey 21, which is refuelled using hydrogen fuel-cell generators developed by UK-based AFC Energy.
In December 2021, Formula E, the all-electric rival to Formula 1, said it’s considering a shift to hydrogen fuel cells from batteries for its fourth-generation cars from 2027. The HYRAZE League – a hydrogen sportscar series – is expected to launch in 2023 and will also use fuel cells.
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If 2021 was the year hydrogen’s story began in earnest, what should we expect from the next chapter in 2022?
We are looking forward to another stellar year for all aspects of the industry, including technology development, investment, new production and adoption.
Maybe the most hotly anticipated developments within the industry in the UK is the government’s finalized low-carbon hydrogen business model and design standard, and the launch of its £240 million ($318 million) Net-Zero Hydrogen Fund, both of which have been in the consultation phase since October. Indicative heads of terms and the consultation response are expected in the coming months, with the first contracts to be awarded in early 2023.
The UK government is aiming for 5 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030. To make that happen it is proposing a ‘variable premium’ price support mechanism, similar to the contracts for difference used to support renewable energy production. The contentious aspect will be setting the reference price when there is no benchmark market price for low carbon hydrogen.
The current plans for the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund are that it should be deployed alongside private investment between 2022 and 2025 for both blue and green hydrogen projects, so we should start to see the benefits flowing soon.
While such regulatory concerns may seem a little dry from the outside, they are crucial to the development of the industry in the coming years.
The current plans for the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund are that it should be deployed alongside private investment between 2022 and 2025 for both blue and green hydrogen projects.
European hydrogen projects are facing a funding gap due to slow deployment of private capital and limited government support, leading to a dearth of final investment decisions for new hydrogen projects, ABN Amro Executive Director, Project Finance, Lisa McDermott said at Platts Hydrogen Markets Europe Conference in November.
There was a flurry of low-carbon hydrogen project announcements last year, including major green and blue hydrogen production facilities, but don’t expect that to translate into a flood of clean hydrogen hitting the market immediately – permitting, financing and construction mean they are usually years in the making.
S&P Global Platts Analytics predicts 65,000 mt/year of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity will come online in Europe in 2022 for a total of just over 100,000 mt/year, before a surge of new additions in 2023 and 2024 bring the total to 1 million mt/year.
The first major blue hydrogen project to come online in the UK is Hynet North West 1, led by Italian energy major Eni and the UK’s Progressive Energy, which is expected to come online with annual capacity of 90,000 mt/y. Equinor’s H2H Saltend is slated to begin producing 150,000 mt/y in 2026, before four projects totalling about 1.2 million mt/y come online in 2027. Blue hydrogen is produced from natural gas but the carbon is captured and reused or stored.
Green hydrogen projects, which use renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, tend to be smaller in scale than blue for now.
The largest project in Europe in 2021 was a 10 MW electrolyser opened by Shell in Germany in July that aims to produce 1,300 tonnes of hydrogen per year. However, several 20 MW plants and a 30 MW facility are under construction and scheduled to come online in 2022. Europe’s first 100 MW electrolysers will begin production in 2023.
Green hydrogen projects, which use renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, tend to be smaller in scale than blue for now.
The UK is expecting to see its first 20 MW electrolyser project at Whitelee near Glasgow start producing green hydrogen by 2023. The UK’s biggest green hydrogen project announced last year was BP’s 60 MW HyGreen Teesside, but a final investment decision is not expected until 2023 with production forthcoming in 2025.
Globally, there will be just over 2 million mt/y of low-carbon hydrogen capacity by the end of 2022, rising above 6 million mt/y by 2025 and about 24 million mt/y by 2030, S&P Global Platts predicts. The majority of that will be green hydrogen, with 4.4 million mt/year of hydrogen electrolyser capacity set to come online by 2025, rising to 16.7 million mt/y in 2030.
2022 won’t only be about supply.
February is going to see more than 650 hydrogen buses deployed at the Beijing Winter Olympics, giving a global platform to the clean fuel as athletes and visitors are transported around venues.
More locally, Wrightbus will be delivering more hydrogen fuel-cell buses in 2022, including 20 acquired by operator Go Ahead, which will be using them on routes in Crawley, Redhill and Gatwick from June. Wrightbus will begin production of its new single-decker hydrogen bus, the GB Kite Hyrdroliner, in the first quarter of 2022 as it seeks to double production this year.
There are exciting developments ahead in the hydrogen passenger-vehicle market this year too. The end of 2021 saw Toyota’s latest fuel-cell powered Mirai arrive in showrooms, and the end of this year could see the debut of two more hydrogen-powered models, a fuel-cell Prius and a hydrogen combustion engine Corolla. The Corolla is of particular interest because it will be the first production car to burn hydrogen as a fuel, unlike fuel-cell vehicles that generate electricity by mixing hydrogen with oxygen.
Meanwhile, BMW is planning a small production run of a limited-edition hydrogen fuel-cell SUV in 2022, its CEO announced in November last year. And it is not alone.
Jaguar Land Rover, owned by India’s Tata Motors, will have prototypes using hydrogen fuel cells on Britain’s roads before the end of 2022, it said last year, as part of a long-range investment plan.
Also in the SUV space, the Ineos Grenadier hydrogen FCEV is expected to begin on- and off-road testing by the end of 2022. It is expected to be using Hyundai’s second-generation fuel-cell stack, currently available in the Hyundai Nexo. The next version of the Nexo, meanwhile, is not going on sale until 2023, the same year as Honda’s third generation Clarity.
2022 will also see JCB, the UK’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment, begin delivery of its first hydrogen-powered loaders and handlers this year after producing prototypes of the vehicles in 2021. Like Toyota’s forthcoming Corolla, JCB will be burning hydrogen in a combustion engine to generate the power needed to operate its machines.
Another crucial development taking place early in 2022 is the maiden voyage of the world’s first ship to transport liquefied hydrogen, which set off from Japan on Dec. 26 and is expected to complete the 18,000 km round trip to Australia in February.
However, one of the exciting things about being involved in a cutting-edge market like hydrogen is that it simply isn’t possible to predict everything that’s coming down the track, even 12 months ahead.
The only thing we can say for sure is that it’s going to be fast, furious, and full of surprises.
Happy New Year!
Formula E, the all-electric rival to Formula 1, is considering a shift to hydrogen fuel cells from batteries for its fourth-generation cars.
The 2022/23 season will see the introduction of Formula E’s Gen3 design, but is already thinking about Gen 4, which will be introduced in 2027. Formula E has exclusive rights to a hydrogen-powered racing series from the FIA until 2039.
“There are two ways to use hydrogen, one way is to burn the hydrogen, which is very inefficient, but some people are working on maybe making it more efficient,” said Formula E co-founder Alejandro Agag. “The other way, which is the one we would use, is a hydrogen fuel cell that basically produces electricity that then powers an electric motor.”
All-electric rally series, Extreme E, already uses hydrogen fuel cells to power the Odyssey 21 E-SUVs at its races. The HYRAZE League – a hydrogen sportscar series – is expected to launch in 2023 and will also use fuel cells.
The first Extreme E rally to take place in the UK in Dorset in mid-December was powered by hydrogen produced by Scottish start-up PlusZero, which sources its green H2 from renewable energy generated in the Western Isles and Orkney. Technical support was provided by Logan Energy, an Edinburgh-based energy systems provider.
Extreme E is backed by F1 champions including Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg, all of which have their own teams. Their vehicles produce the equivalent of 550 bhp and can tackle gradients of up to 53 degrees.
Gen3 Formula E cars will have 470 bhp and 600 kW of regenerative breaking. The 2021/22 championship begins in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 28 and will take in 16 tracks around the world including Mexico City, Rome, Monaco and London.
While F1 cars boast more than 1,000 bhp, they are only slightly quicker off the line, reaching 100 km/h in 2.6 seconds compared with 2.8 seconds for a Formula E car. They are currently considerably faster though, with a top speed of 397 km/h vs. 280 km/h for Formula E.
The upstart all-electric racing championship only started in 2014, so is relatively early in its development compared with F1, which held its first race at Silverstone in 1950. The use of hydrogen fuel cells would be an exciting development in the evolution of auto racing and could even allow it to compete with F1 in the future.
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2021 has been a year like no other for hydrogen. After a number of false starts for the industry, everything has come together for the fuel of the future in terms of technology, investment in hydrogen, and policy.
Some dire warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in August and the gathering of world leaders at COP26 in Glasgow to discuss how to tackle them helped focus global policy makers on the urgency of decarbonising everything from transport to heating, and to heavy industry, a task that hydrogen is uniquely suited to.
A young girl protests about inaction being taken by government against the climate crisis
In the UK, the government released the UK Hydrogen Strategy in August followed by its Net Zero Strategy in October, including several hundred million pounds of support for clean hydrogen and backing for carbon capture hubs that will enable the production of blue hydrogen.
Large-scale hydrogen-production hubs were announced around the country, including the south and east coasts of England, and Scotland. The projects to create green and blue hydrogen are backed by major energy companies from BP to Equinor and draw on the UKs considerable resources in both renewable energy and natural gas.
Technological developments led to a number of firsts in automotive, aviation and marine transport, including the launch of England’s first-ever hydrogen double-decker buses in London in June, the world’s first successful flight using only synthetic fuel made from hydrogen by the RAF in November, and the launch of the world’s first passenger ferry powered by liquid hydrogen in October.
A fleet of the world’s first zero-emission hydrogen powered double deck buses hit the streets of London, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Dublin and Belfast with manufacturer Wrightbus announcing that 2022 will see them double production thanks to massive demand for their Zero-emission transport technology.
To make our roundup of this year’s hydrogen highlights as easy to navigate as possible, we have created the following categories: policy, projects, and transport.
Enjoy, and here’s to another year of hydrogen innovation and progress in 2022.
Policy
Two big policy papers were published by the UK government in 2021. The Hydrogen Strategy, released in August, pledged about £900 million for both producers and consumers of hydrogen and pledged subsidies to reach its goal of 5 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production, including both blue (made from natural gas with carbon capture) and green (made from splitting water with renewable energy).
The publication of the UK’s Net Zero Strategy in October put more flesh on the bones with £140 million for the Industrial and Hydrogen Revenue Support scheme with the aim of bridging the gap between industrial energy costs from gas and hydrogen and helping green hydrogen projects to get off the ground.
Two big policy papers were published by the UK government in 2021. The Hydrogen Strategy, released in August, pledged about £900 million for both producers and consumers of hydrogen and pledged subsidies to reach its goal of 5 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production
The Net Zero Strategy also included two carbon capture and storage schemes in the northeast and northwest of England that will be fast-tracked with the aim of getting the technology ready for commercial deployment at scale by the middle of the decade. The East Coast Cluster near Hull and Middlesbrough is backed by companies including BP, Drax, Equinor and SSE, and claims it will be able to capture 50% of the UK’s industrial carbon emissions and store them in disused oil and gas fields in the North Sea. The HyNet project in Liverpool Bay, set up by Eni and Progressive Energy, also received government backing.
It also set a goal of mixing 20 percent hydrogen into the natural gas supply and a prediction that a UK-wide hydrogen economy could be worth £900 billion by 2030 and create 9,000 jobs, rising to £13 billion and 100,000 jobs by 2050.
The HyNet project in Liverpool Bay, set up by Eni and Progressive Energy, also received government backing. It also set a goal of mixing 20 percent hydrogen into the natural gas supply and a prediction that a UK-wide hydrogen economy could be worth £900 billion by 2030 and create 9,000 jobs, rising to £13 billion and 100,000 jobs by 2050.
In November, the Scottish Government published its Draft Hydrogen Action Plan, setting out Scotland’s strategic approach for committing £100 million to hydrogen projects over the next five years to fund studies for large-scale and pilot renewable hydrogen production projects. The aim is for Scotland to produce 5GW of hydrogen by 2030, and 25GW by 2045.
Scotland will produce a Hydrogen Export Plan by 2026 with the aim of developing terminals and infrastructure that will eventually export hydrogen to Northern European nations such as Germany, Denmark and France.
Projects
Two of the biggest hydrogen projects announced this both came from BP. In March, the energy supermajor revealed H2Teesside, a 1 GW blue hydrogen plant with the capacity to capture and store 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by 2030. Towards the end of November, it announced HyGreen Teesside, with the aim of producing 60 MW of green hydrogen by 2025 and 500 MW by 2030.
Teesside is also the site of a 40 MW green hydrogen project announced by Protium in October that is slated for completion by 2026. In March, the Tees Valley was named as the UK’s first hydrogen transport hub backed by £3 billion of government funding.
Further down the east coast, another hydrogen hub is developing around the Humber Estuary. In November, Norwegian energy giant Equinor awarded contracts to begin front end engineering and design for H2H Saltend, a 600 MW blue hydrogen production facility that will provide fuel for the nearby Keadby Hydrogen power station, the world’s first large-scale plant of its kind.
Humber is rapidly developing plans to become a major hub for producing UK hydrogen
Just this month (December) Equinor said the Humber region is the likely location for the UK’s first hydrogen town. The first stage of the project with gas network operator Cadent involves carrying out technical assessments for hydrogen production, storage, demand and distribution, including of the viability of the existing natural gas network to carry 100% hydrogen.
In mid-November, the Port of Shoreham in West Sussex granted H2 Green permission to produce hydrogen through electrolysis to power the Port’s fleet of heavy goods vehicles and forklifts before ramping up production to serve the 800 HGVs that use Port of Shoreham daily for other organisations with a goal of producing 10-15 tonnes of hydrogen daily.
Also in November, the UK government awarded the Whitelee Windfarm in East Renfrewshire near Glasgow £9.4 million to build an electrolyser to produce green hydrogen to power local transport.
December saw Freeport East moved significant step closer to fulfilling its vision when its outline business case was formally approved by government. Felixstowe, Harwich and Gateway 14 near Stowmarket will stamp duty land tax relief, enhanced capital allowances, enhanced structures and buildings allowance, national insurance contributions rate relief and business rates relief. The area will become a global trade and hydrogen energy hub and has the involvement of major companies including Sizewell C, EDF, Ryze Hydrogen, Wrightbus, Port of Felixstowe and JCB.
Machinery manufacturing giant JCB have successfully made the world’s first zero-emission hydrogen digger, and also the world’s first hydrogen combustion engine which is being heralded as one of the most influential inventions of the 21st Century with its ability to decarbonise transport
INEOS, the world’s largest multinational chemical producer, in October committed to invest €2 billion (£1.7 billion) in green hydrogen production across Europe as it seeks to decarbonise its operations and enter new markets. The first electrolysers will be built in Norway and Germany over the next 10 years, followed by plants in Belgium, France and the UK, said the company, founded by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.
From a major survey undertaken this Winter and now released it’s been revealed that over 80% of energy companies are either investing in a shift towards hydrogen or have already launched new hydrogen projects based on significant hydrogen investment.
Transport (ground)
In June, Mayor of London welcomed England’s first fleet of hydrogen double-decker buses. The 20 vehicles, built by Northern Ireland-based Wrightbus, were introduced on route 7 between East Acton and Oxford Circus and join Transport for London’s fleet of 500 electric buses helping the capital cut emissions.
In October, JCB, the UK’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment, announced a £100 million investment to develop hydrogen engines to power its vehicles. The firm has already produced prototypes for the JCB backhoe loader and the Loadall telescopic handler and is adding to the 100 engineers it has working on the project to deliver products to customers by the end of 2022.
JCB also also signed a deal to take 10% of the green hydrogen produced by Australian firm Fortescue Future Industries and then distribute it, along with Ryze Hydrogen, around the UK. BP was again in the hydrogen headlines in October when it announced with Daimler plans to develop 25 hydrogen refuelling sites in the UK to service heavy goods vehicles by 2025.
In July, a study by the International Council on Clean Transportation said only battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have the potential to achieve the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed to meet the Paris climate goals. It also pointed to challenges arising from relying solely on battery-electric passenger vehicles, such as limitations on grid capacity, and said hydrogen fuel cells will need to take up the slack.
Riversimple, the Wales-based hydrogen vehicle company, announced a deal with Siemens in February that will see it begin manufacturing its Rasa passenger vehicle from 2023 and a light goods vehicle from 2024 with the aim of making 25,000 vehicles per year.
Transport (marine)
Norwegian ferry operator Norled in July took delivery of the world’s first liquid hydrogen-powered ferry, MF Hydra. The vessel, which is 82.4 metres long and has a capacity of up to 80 cars and 300 passengers, can reach a speed of 9 knots.
Back in the UK, a new research and testing facility was created in Cornwall in June to explore the use of hydrogen in the marine and boating sector. The Cornwall Marine Hydrogen Centre, a European Union-funded project at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus, hosts equipment for testing hydrogen propulsion systems in a simulated real-world environment.
The UK is pioneering the future of offshore operations with the release in December of designs for the world’s first autonomous hydrogen-powered vessels. Designed by renowned British marine operator Attollo, the three ships boast zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell propulsion, onboard renewable power generation and next-generation technology, including ergonomic environments that minimise noise and vibration for crew. The vessels will be used by teams of engineers and other professionals working in offshore sectors, including wind energy, oil and gas, and environmental management.
In June, AqualisBraemar LOC Group was awarded funding by the UK government for a project to build a barge that produces and stores green hydrogen for bunkering. Poole Harbour will be used as a case study for demonstrating the environmental and commercial viability of the concept.
Transport (aviation)
2021 is the year aviation’s major players started to get publicly serious about hydrogen. In September, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said he expects it will have a hydrogen plane in service by 2035. “Hydrogen has an energy density three times that of kerosene – [technically it] is made for aviation,” he told reporters at a sustainability event in Toulouse.
However, powering flights with pure hydrogen fuel is likely to be limited to the short-haul sector for some time to come, according to Rolls-Royce, which produces jet engines for the likes of Airbus and rival Boeing. “For long-distance international travel the industry doesn’t see a technology solution that’s appropriate – other than synthetic aviation fuel,” Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East was quoted as saying in August.
In September, the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) demonstrated how that might be possible when it teamed up with Zero Petroleum to set a Guinness World Record for the first successful flight using only synthetic fuel made from hydrogen. The plane, an Ikarus C42 two-seater, was powered by Zero Petroleum’s UL91 fuel, which is made by extracting hydrogen from water and carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide. The creation of a synthetic fuel meant it could be used without any modification to the engine or the aircraft.
In November, budget airline easyJet announced it is joining the Race to Zero global campaign, setting an ambitious goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Its director of flight operations said hydrogen is expected to play a crucial role in the airline meeting this target, citing energy density as a key factor in determining which technologies will decarbonise its flights.
Transport (rail)
November saw a flurry of activity around COP26 in Glasgow, including Hydroflex, Britain’s first hydrogen-powered train, the culmination of an £8 million collaboration between Birmingham University and Porterbrook.
All in all hydrogen has moved rapidly throughout numerous sectors of the economy and taken its position centre stage at COP where it was widely recognised as the solution for decarbonisation of transport, homes and industry.
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The UK is pioneering the future of offshore operations with the release of designs for the world’s first autonomous hydrogen-powered vessels.
Designed by renowned British marine operator Attollo, the three ships boast zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell propulsion, onboard renewable power generation and next-generation technology, including ergonomic environments that minimise noise and vibration for crew.
The design of the vessels, set to hit the water by 2030, received funding from the government who continue to invest in hydrogen, and assistance from V&A Dundee’s Design Accelerator for low-carbon technologies. Transport consultancy CENEX provided research support for the zero-emission propulsion system.
Batteries are not a viable option for decarbonising ships – a typical British ferry would require a battery weighing 5,000 tonnes
The vessels will be used by teams of engineers and other professionals working in offshore sectors, including wind energy, oil and gas, and environmental management.
“Attollo’s Project Zero is one of the most exciting ideas we’ve worked on in our Design for Business programme, and these plans for zero emissions vessels could be a game-changing development in sustainable offshore travel,” said Jen Ballie, design for business research manager, at V&A Dundee.
Clean hydrogen is the only serious option for decarbonising marine transport and shipping, which emits 940 million tonnes of CO2 annually and is responsible for 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Batteries are not a viable option – a typical British ferry would require a battery weighing 5,000 tonnes using current technology – while biodiesel has been shown not to be carbon neutral.
Ships are already being built that run on hydrogen. In October this year, MF HYDRA, an 82-metre ferry with capacity for 300 passengers and 80 cars, powered by liquid hydrogen, won the prestigious Ship of the Year award from Nordic maritime magazine Skipsrevyen.
The European Innovation Project Flagships is set to begin operating the world’s first commercial cargo vessel powered by hydrogen by the end of the year. The ship, to be operated and owned by French inland shipowner Compagnie Fluvial de Transport, will ply its trade on the River Seine.
There is no shortage of activity in this area in the UK either. Sea-Kit International recently won the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition for uncrewed surface vessels funded by the Department for Transport and InnovateUK and will retrofit a 12-metre ship, the Maxlimer, with fuel cells provided by West Sussex-based Bramble Energy.
The UK’s emerging hydrogen hubs, such as Teesside, are centred around ports and will produce green hydrogen from offshore wind, making them the perfect springboard for the development of a maritime hydrogen industry. With investment in hydrogen happening across multiple sectors the ‘ UK hydrogen economy ‘ is well and truly emerging.
“Zero emission marine propulsion technology is in its infancy, but Attollo want to demonstrate early leadership and adoption for large scale commercial maritime applications,” said Fergus Worthy, General Manager at CENEX.
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The pivot to a hydrogen economy provides huge opportunities for the UK to take a leadership position in key sectors, including energy, transport, and industry.
Equally, it is an opportunity that, if not grasped, would see the UK consigned to laggard status in those same areas.
What is at stake was highlighted this week by a report into the revolution in steelmaking that is being wrought by green hydrogen.
The shift from coal to hydrogen as the main source of energy in steel production is going to redraw the map in terms of where it is produced, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Currently 70% of the world’s steel is created in coal-powered blast furnaces. By 2050, green hydrogen – by then the cheapest source of energy for steel production – will account for 31% of the market, while 45% will come from recycling powered by renewable energy, BNEF said in a report Decarbonizing Steel: A Net-Zero Pathway.
The shift will upend the industry, currently dominated by China, which churned out more than 1 billion metric tons of steel in 2020, more than half the world’s supply.
China churned out more than 1 billion metric tons of steel in 2020, more than half the world’s supply.
“The global steel industry is poised to begin a titanic pivot from coal to hydrogen,” said Kobad Bhavnagri, head of industrial decarbonisation at BNEF. “Green hydrogen is both the cheapest and most practical way to make green steel, once recycling levels are ramped up. This transition will cause both great disruption, and great opportunity. Companies and investors don’t yet appreciate the scale of the changes ahead.”
The biggest winners from these changes will be Brazil, which will be producing some of the lowest cost hydrogen globally by 2030, as well as India, Russia, and South Africa. Australia, currently the world’s biggest producer of iron ore, the main ingredient in steel, could lose that position due to the requirement for higher grade ores in the production of green steel, BNEF said.
The switch to hydrogen is unlikely to propel the UK to the top of the global steel production rankings – it is a relative minnow, producing just 7.1 million metric tons in 2020 and is ranked 24th globally. However, the industry employs about 33,000 people in the UK and a further 42,000 in related supply chains.
The industry has been under pressure in recent years as it struggled to compete with lower cost competition. One of the key challenges it has faced has been uncompetitive energy costs. A report this year by trade body UK Steel said UK steel producers pay about £50 million a year in excess energy cost compared with foreign competitors. Domestic firms spend a whopping 86% more on electricity than German mills and 62% more than French competitors.
Enter offshore wind, in which the UK has been a pioneer and is rapidly becoming the country’s cheapest source of electricity. Contracts awarded to build wind farms in the UK in 2019 could become the world’s first negative subsidy offshore projects, according to analysis by Imperial College London.
Most of the UK’s green hydrogen projects are set to be powered by offshore wind, including BP’s recently announced 60 MW HyGreen site in Teesside, and the Northern Horizons Project offshore Scotland.
Considerable investment in hydrogen is going to be needed. Powering the UK’s steel industry with green hydrogen would require 7 GW of electrolysis capacity, it has been estimated.
While the UK has an opportunity to be a leader in green steel production, it has yet to take the necessary steps, according to a report this year by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). When the report was published in May, it noted there were 23 hydrogen-based steel production projects in Europe, while the UK was yet to set out its plans.
The government created a £250 million Clean Steel Fund in 2019, but hasn’t deployed any funds due to a lack of a clear road map for the industry. The word “steel” appears just seven times in the UK Hydrogen Strategy document, which says its plans for the sector will be addressed in more detail in its Net Zero Strategy paper. Alas, it appears just six times in that document.
The UK is in danger of falling behind European and global peers in the shift to hydrogen-powered green steel production, but it is not too late. Similar scenarios are playing out in other industries impacted by the emergence of green hydrogen.
The UK is a leader in hydrogen-powered transport. Wrightbus has made the world’s first hydrogen-fuelled double-decker bus, while its first hydrogen train recently made its maiden voyage. JCB is pioneering hydrogen-powered plant equipment.
With supportive policies in place, the UK could turn those leads into global success stories. Without them, the opportunities could be lost.
For more about HYCAP click here.
Toyota is taking orders for its latest hydrogen vehicle in North America, the 2022 Mirai. The attractive vehicle, described as more of a Lexus than a Toyota, has received some very favourable reviews in terms of performance, features, comfort and looks.
Its 182-horsepower engine boasts 221 pound-feet of torque and a range of 402 miles.
While much of the world’s attention has been on the transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from petrol and diesel cars, some of the biggest carmakers in the world continue to pursue hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (HFEV). Hyundai has sold over 1,000 of its FCEV SUV, called the NEXO, in Europe since launch in 2018, and has said the new version of the fuel cell power system will be twice as powerful, 30% smaller and cost half as much as the current version.
There are some clear dividing lines in the battle for the future of transport. Currently, batteries look likely to dominate the automobile – as well as upstarts like Tesla, the old guard, such as Volkswagen and Ford, are all backing the technology.
Big and heavy vehicles, buses, trains, shipping and ultimately aircraft are all firmly in the hydrogen camp – batteries are too heavy, too slow to charge, and offer limited range.
In the middle are larger passenger vehicles, vans and small trucks where neither side has a decisive lead and, depending on use, vehicles powered by both technologies could prosper in the short-term.
However, if we look further out, hydrogen could come to dominate smaller passenger cars too.
Batteries have got a leap on hydrogen mainly because of refuelling infrastructure. Electricity is everywhere in urban environments and setting up a new recharging station is relatively cheap and straightforward. That is not always going to be the case.
Hydrogen refuelling facilities are initially being built in hubs such as ports, truck or bus depots and warehouses, to serve the vehicles that frequent them, but retail hydrogen pumps can quickly follow.
Much of the needed infrastructure is already there at existing petrol stations and the logistical challenges are very similar.
Thanks to hydrogen’s status as the technology of choice for decarbonising so many other parts of the economy, from transport to heavy industry to home heating and cooking, it’s eventual ubiquity will make it an ever more obvious choice for cars.
Remove the refuelling issue and the advantages of electric cars over hydrogen quickly fade. Considering that the drive to move away from hydrocarbons in transport is climate change, batteries are an environmental disaster. Research from Berylls Strategy Advisors found that the manufacture of an electric car battery weighing 500kg emits 74% more carbon dioxide than producing a conventional car in Germany.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research estimates that a mid-range EV car with a 40 kWh battery bought in Germany in 2019 would need to drive 52,000 km before its lifetime emissions fell below that of comparative diesel or petrol vehicle. For luxury EVs with large batteries (120 kWh) that increases to 230,000 km.
Mining the cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese, graphite and copper in places like the DRC needed to manufacture batteries has a sizeable environmental and social cost.
Mining the cobalt, lithium, nickel, manganese, graphite and copper needed to manufacture batteries also has a sizeable environmental and social cost. Many of the companies that produce them have poor environmental and human rights records, while the countries where they are mined, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, are poorly equipped to defend their workforce.
Batteries also produce a great deal of waste at the end of their lives. Recycling toxic materials, such as lithium, is notoriously difficult, not to mention expensive compared with mining it. Unlike hydrogen fuel cells, batteries degrade over time and are expected to lose about 30% of their capacity over a warranty period of about 8 years or 100,000 miles.
Elon Musk has been typically snarky about hydrogen FCEVs, describing them as “fool cells” but if everything he said was true, we would already be living in a world of self-driving cars and mainly using Dogecoin to pay for them.
Let’s not underestimate the challenges to overcome before hydrogen becomes a mainstream choice for passenger vehicles. As well as refuelling infrastructure, costs need to come down significantly. That is likely just a matter of time, according to Hyundai, which predicted in September its fuel cell system could reach cost parity with battery power by 2030.
Hydrogen FCEVs are going through a similar phase to what BEVs were 10 years ago, according to José Muñoz, chief operating officer for the Seoul-based automaker and head of its operations in the Americas.
“At that time people were still asking, ‘Is this going to happen? This is not true. We don’t have infrastructure. People won’t like it’,” Muñoz told Forbes earlier this month.
“Hydrogen is going through a similar phase—the phase of introducing a new technology. We need better (fueling) infrastructure because it’s still very limited.
However, in terms of the reaction by the consumer, when they drive a vehicle that is powered by hydrogen, there is a fantastic reaction.”
For more about HYCAP click here.
There was something almost understated about Sky News Correspondent Adam Boulton’s description of test-driving a hydrogen-powered JCB last week.
“I’m no expert driver but it all worked smoothly,” he reported from Derbyshire.
This is precisely the point: for those using them, hydrogen-powered JCBs are no different to those running on diesel. They are a little quieter, and zero carbon, but otherwise, it is business as usual. And that’s the genius of their solution.
The same is true of Worcester Bosch’s hydrogen boiler. Because it also works on natural gas, it can sit in your home working as normal until the time comes to switch it over to 100% hydrogen, at which point, following a few small adjustments from an engineer, it’s ready to go.
Last week, the RAF set a Guinness World Record for the first successful flight using only synthetic fuel made from hydrogen. No modifications needed to be made to the engine or the aircraft, and the pilot noticed no difference in power or general performance in the operation of the plane.
Operating a JCB machine that runs on hydrogen is no different to one that runs on diesel, except there’s zero-carbon.
In October, Rolls-Royce announced conversion kits that would make its mtu Series 500 and Series 4000 gas engines (power units for industrial companies and utilities) able to run on 100% hydrogen.
The list goes on: buses and trains that run on hydrogen provide an almost identical experience for the people operating and riding on them to their hydrocarbon-powered predecessors; cooking on a stove with a hydrogen flame is very similar to natural gas.
The point is, with the embrace of hydrogen, the energy transition does not need to mean an end to life as we know it. In fact, many of the things we love to do today, we can continue to do much as we have always done.
Hydrogen is not the answer to everything when it comes to the energy transition, but neither is electrification.
Air-source heat pumps are too bulky to install in most UK homes and don’t produce hot enough water so would involve ripping out and replacing the radiators in the majority of cases. It may never be possible to electrify air travel and shipping, unless we want to travel in very small numbers to make space for enormous, heavy batteries.
But not everyone is happy with the quiet revolution that hydrogen offers. Revolutions are supposed to be dramatic. Maybe that is why the UK has always been wary of them: all that lopping off of heads over the Channel at the end of the 18th Century has given us pause.
When it comes to the energy transition, some are in favour of a dramatic revolution, but this time they are calling not for the heads of royalty, but those of Big Oil, automotive companies and anyone who was involved in the hydrocarbons industry.
While that might be cathartic for some, it is not necessary and, in fact, would be counterproductive if the real goal is achieving net zero as quickly and as cost effectively as possible and not dishing out punishment to those they blame for climate change.
By putting hydrogen at the heart of the UK’s energy transition, we don’t need to rip the guts out of the UK’s energy infrastructure. Instead, we can build on it.
Take Britain’s 171,000-mile natural gas pipeline network. The UK has been upgrading the iron pipes with yellow polythene for the past 20 years and it will be 90% hydrogen-ready by 2030. A similar project is underway in mainland Europe.
Gas networks in mainland Europe are already looking to switch to hydrogen, as the clean fuel can theoretically be deployed via the existing infrastructure.
Gas network company SGN revealed last week a roadmap for the hydrogen transition that could see 90% of Scottish homes benefiting from piping hydrogen through the existing gas network. According to plans, Aberdeen could become the world’s first city powered by 100% hydrogen as soon as 2030 with the rest of the nation’s gas network converted by 2045.
Many of the natural gas boilers and appliances we use today are already able to accept a blend of 20% hydrogen should the government go ahead and approve the measure as expected in the next couple of years.
The arrival of the hydrogen economy is revolutionary. It will help slash greenhouse gas emissions, make our air cleaner, generate thousands of jobs, and contribute to national energy security.
However, for most people, it won’t create Instagrammable moments. It will be a quiet revolution. And that is one of the reasons it will be so effective. And that is why HYCAP was created: because we believe Hydrogen is the most practical and cost-effective solution for the UK to achieve its net zero goals.
For more about HYCAP click here.
When the sun sets on the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (aka COP26) in Glasgow, we’re all hoping for meaningful action from governments that appear to be taking their climate change responsibilities increasingly seriously.
With more countries signing up to net zero pledges the question rapidly coming into focus is how these goals are going to be achieved.
International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said that investment in clean power needs to triple in the next decade if the world’s 2050 net zero target is going to be met.
As outlined previously, clean hydrogen has a major role to play in almost every part of the decarbonisation process from power generation to transport, home heating to industry.
So how much hydrogen needs to be produced, and where is it going to come from?
Last year, the IEA released a review of the low carbon hydrogen industry, concluding that a lot more needs to be done to reach the almost 8 million tons per year that needs to be produced by 2030 under the sustainable development scenario. The world is currently set to break through the one megaton per year mark in 2023.
Some ambitious plans have already been announced to make that happen. Perhaps none more so than construction giants JCB who, in partnership with pioneering UK hydrogen firm Ryze Hydrogen, on the eve of COP26, inked a deal with Australian firm Fortescue Future Industries to become the biggest supplier of green hydrogen to the U.K.
The announcement was followed up by JCB Chairman Lord Bamford. JCB have developed a hydrogen combustion engine for which it has just been awarded the prestigious Dewar Trophy for technical achievement, and is looking likely to shift the landscape forever.
“I am now convinced hydrogen, more so than electric battery power, holds the key to bringing our global climate crisis under control.
And yes, we can keep driving, keep building, keep flying, keep heating our homes — all without pumping any carbon dioxide or other toxic emissions into the atmosphere.
It is perhaps no exaggeration to say the hydrogen engine could turn out to be the most important invention of the 21st century.” said Lord Bamford.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson refuels the new zero-emission hydrogen JCB digger alongside JCB Chairman Lord Bamford.
Last month INEOS, the world’s largest multinational chemical producer, committed to invest €2 billion (£1.7 billion) in green hydrogen production across Europe as it seeks to decarbonise its operations and enter new markets. The first unit will be a 20 MW electrolyser in Rafnes, Norway, followed by a 100 MW plant in Koln, Germany. Belgium, France and the UK are in line for future projects, according to the company, founded by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.
It represents a hugely significant investment from one of the world’s biggest chemical companies. It’s also a potentially important moment for the commercial viability of the sector. INEOS wouldn’t be making this investment if it didn’t expect to make money.
The INEOS hydrogen announcement coincided with ‘The UK Hydrogen Roadshow’, a joint venture with Ryze Hydrogen and zero-emission hydrogen bus manufacturer Wrightbus. The event saw a hydrogen bus travel over 600 miles from Tate Modern in London to COP26 in Glasgow, visiting the Prime Minister and numerous UK companies along the way, to learn how they’re innovating with hydrogen in their different sectors, to lower emissions and create skilled, green jobs in the process. A series of films were made throughout the event and can be seen at www.ukhydrogenroadshow.com
In July 2020, the EU published its hydrogen strategy and roadmap in which it outlined plans to install at least 6 GW of green hydrogen electrolysers and produce up to 1 million tons of renewable hydrogen by 2024. That goal rises to 40 GW of electrolysers and 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen by 2030, after which it will be deployed at a large scale across all hard-to-decarbonise sectors.
The UK’s hydrogen strategy, released in August of this year, has targeted 5 GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, likely a mix of green and blue hydrogen (details promised in early 2022). It also set a goal of mixing 20 percent hydrogen into the natural gas supply and a prediction that a UK-wide hydrogen economy could be worth £billions by 2030 and create 9,000 jobs, rising to £2 trillion and 100,000 jobs by 2050.
The biggest low carbon hydrogen projects in the UK today are blue, i.e., they rely on carbon capture and storage to make them carbon neutral, such as a 1 GW facility being studied by BP for Teesside.
We’re happy to see blue hydrogen projects being developed as a bridge fuel, because it can help replace natural gas, but the future is green hydrogen produced by renewable energy and electrolysis, and we urge the UK government to commit to a 5 GW green hydrogen target for 2030, not just “low carbon” hydrogen.
The technology for producing green hydrogen at a competitive price is there; the final piece of the puzzle is scale. So far, electrolyser deployments have been relatively small, but that is beginning to change.
UK renewable energy companies Octopus Energy and RES have recently announced they plan to invest £3 billion in green hydrogen production across the country by 2030, using surplus solar and wind energy to help industrial businesses to decarbonise.
In September, renewable hydrogen company Protium announced a partnership with Petrofac to deliver 1 GW of green hydrogen production capacity by 2030 with the first projects set to begin operations by 2023.
Earlier last month, Siemens Gamesa and Orsted said they had picked Grimsby for a megawatt-scale pilot project to integrate offshore wind energy with green energy production.
The largest announced green hydrogen projects in the UK are both 20 MW: ScottishPower’s electrolyser at Whitelee, outside Glasgow; and a plan to decarbonise the Port of Immingham by Uniper, Siemens Energy, Toyota Tsusho and Associated British Ports. ScottishPower’s project is aiming to produce hydrogen before 2030, while the Port of Immingham development is targeting 2025.
If the UK is to become a self-sufficient hydrogen economy, a lot more investment is needed. Otherwise, it could become entirely dependent on foreign sources of the fuel.
The world’s largest announced green hydrogen project was announced in February of this year. HyDeal Ambition intends to build 96 GW of solar and 67 GW of electrolysis capacity in Europe by 2030, enough to produce 3.6 million tons of green hydrogen a year.
Kazakhstan revealed in July plans to develop 45 GW of wind and solar to power 30 GW of electrolysers. Also in July, a group of international energy companies unveiled Western Green Energy Hub, a $100 billion site covering 15,000 sq km in Western Australia that will generate 50 GW of wind and solar and 28 GW of green hydrogen.
The list of green hydrogen megaprojects goes on – there were 11 of 5 GW or more globally as of August, according to Statista – and more are announced every week.
Lord Bamford adds “If the Government doubts that hydrogen could be immeasurably better than battery power, think about this: fuel tax is currently worth tens of billions a year to the Exchequer.
If, somehow, we all switch to charging our cars with mains electricity, the Government will lose that income. If, on the other hand, we switch to hydrogen combustion, a replacement source of taxable energy becomes easily available. So, what are we waiting for?
You might well be thinking this is all too good to be true. The sheer elegance of the idea, is too ‘easy’ a solution. But actually, it’s really just an opportunity too good to miss.
Climate change may be the biggest problem humanity has ever faced — but hydrogen engines could well be mankind’s greatest solution yet.”
COP26 has made it abundantly clear that the global market for truly clean hydrogen is developing very quickly. The UK must not get left behind.
To learn more about HYCAP click here.
The consequences of human activity on the climate could not be clearer. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it is now “unequivocal” we have warmed the planet, causing “widespread and rapid” changes to the oceans, ice cover and land surface.
Many of the changes, particularly to oceans and sea levels are “irreversible” and abrupt changes as a result of tipping points, such as Antarctic ice sheet melt and forest dieback “cannot be ruled out.”
However, amid the gloom, a titanic effort is underway to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius as set out in the Paris climate accords and avert the worst cases scenarios described by the IPCC.
To do so, the challenges are numerous: increase the use of renewable power; stop using hydrocarbons in transport (road, rail, shipping and aviation); end the use of natural gas in heating and cooking; and decarbonise industry.
Key to achieving all those goals is clean hydrogen.
Renewables
Energy supply made up almost 21 percent of UK greenhouse emissions in 2019, second only to transport, and the shift away from coal and natural gas to wind and solar is one of the most visible and, initially at least, easiest to achieve.
Renewable energy is the cheapest way to produce electricity in most parts of the world (see these reports from Lazard, EIA and Wood Mackenzie for the details) but it has a widely reported intermittency problem.
For short-term fluctuations in supply, batteries have an important role to play, but they start to lose their charge as soon as the power is removed and are generally only considered an economic solution for a few hours at a time.
The only way to get to 100 percent renewable energy without long-term storage is to massively overbuild solar and wind so that much of it is wasted during periods of normal demand but there is enough during peaks.
The only viable form of clean long-term power storage is hydrogen created through electrolysis. Power-to-gas-to-power involves using excess renewable energy to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, which is stored before being turned back into power, usually by burning it.
Transport
Transport produces about 27 percent of the UK’s greenhouse emissions in 2019 and so the sector is a major target in the race to decarbonise the economy.
Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have attracted most of the attention when it comes to transport’s move away from the internal combustion engine, but they are not the whole story by any means.
Slow charging times and an unfavourable weight-to-power ratio make batteries a difficult choice for many larger vehicles, such as lorries, buses, trains and boats.
Truck and bus drivers have warmed to the use of hydrogen as a replacement for diesel, because of the similar refill times and range it offers. South Korea’s Hyundai, Germany’s Daimler, Sweden’s Volvo and Italy’s Iveco are among the companies bringing, or looking to bring, product to market.
The UK government plans to phase out diesel-powered trains, which make up almost 30 percent of the country’s fleet, by 2040. With just 42 percent of the track network electrified, alternative fuels are going to be needed, with clean hydrogen leading the pack.
The world’s first hydrogen train hit the tracks in Germany in 2018 and France’s first fleet is due to arrive in 2023. The UK’s first prototype hydrogen train made its maiden journey in September 2020 and is expected to carry passengers from the end of 2021.
In aviation, potentially the most challenging form of transport to decarbonise, progress is also being made, with Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury saying he expects the company to have a hydrogen jet plane in service by 2035.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury says he expects the company to have a hydrogen jet plane in service by 2035.
“Hydrogen has an energy density three times that of kerosene – [technically it] is made for aviation,” he told reporters at a sustainability event in Toulouse.
Households
Residences were responsible for more than 15 percent of the UK’s greenhouse emissions in 2019, the fourth biggest source, less than “business” and more than agriculture.
That mainly came from carbon dioxide emitted by natural gas used for heating and cooking, both of which are particularly difficult to tackle thanks to our huge installed base of gas boilers and our love of cooking with gas.
While there is a push to electrify both domestic heating and cooking, clean hydrogen can allow us to leverage the almost 5,000 miles of pipes and other gas infrastructure in the UK.
Trials are already underway to blend 20 percent hydrogen into the UK’s gas network, which would allow consumers to continue to use the same appliances but with considerably lower carbon emissions. Should trials prove successful, 20 percent blend could be rolled out nationwide by 2023.
A mini grid has also been built in Cumbria by Northern Gas Networks to test the viability of using the UK’s existing gas grid to deliver 100 percent hydrogen, putting the UK at the cutting edge of research into the use of hydrogen in domestic networks.
The UK is particularly well placed to ramp up the use of hydrogen in the grid thanks to the existing infrastructure from 50 years of piping natural gas from the North Sea across the country, the same source as much of the nation’s vast wealth of wind energy.
Industry
Cement alone accounts for about 8 percent of all global greenhouse emissions, while other heavy industry, such as steel and aluminium manufacturing is also incredibly carbon intensive, with the former producing 1.83 tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of steel.
While Chinese manufacturers have largely focused on maintaining traditional production techniques while capturing the carbon, European industrial heavyweights, such as Germany’s Thyssenkrupp, have embraced hydrogen as a route to rapid decarbonisation.
Hanson UK, the British unit of HeidelbergCement, is experimenting with the use of green hydrogen to replace natural gas in the burners at its plant in southern Wales. Chemicals company Ineos is building an electrolyzer in Rafnes, Norway to produce green hydrogen for use in its processes.
In short, clean hydrogen has a major role to play in decarbonising almost every aspect of the economy.
The biggest challenge to its successful deployment is finding enough of it at a price that allows its smooth integration with the global economy.
As New Hydrogen Buses Save Over 1,500T Of CO2 Emissions, Wrightbus Announce 300 Permanent Jobs.
UK bus manufacturer Wrightbus, manufacturers of the world’s first zero-emission Hydrogen bus, The Hydroliner, has announced the creation of 300 permanent jobs.
The news coincides with the British Government’s release of the long-awaited Hydrogen Strategy. This is particularly relevant as Wrightbus have just released data showing they’ve already made savings of over 1,500 tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions, thanks to their zero-emission hydrogen buses now in operation in cities across the UK.
This makes the government’s promise of 4,000 zero-emission buses in the UK even more important, and something the public transport sector awaits eagerly, especially in light of the recent IPCC report which was nothing short of damning in regards to our emissions.
When Wrightbus was bought out of administration in October 2019, the company had just 56 members of staff, now it’s close to 1,000.
Sir Tim Peake receives a demonstration of the Wrightbus revolutionary platform ‘Uptime 365’ – the software platform enables optimal use of the vehicles with live real-time performance analysis.
It’s the powerful combination of Wrightbus emissions-lowering technology already in operation nationwide, coupled with the subsequent creation of so many new jobs, that makes the company such a glittering example of the slogan ‘Green Recovery’.
“It’s a fantastic success story, and not one many people would have imagined just a few short years ago,” said Wrightbus MD Neil Collins.
“In the last two years, the company has not only been bought back from the brink, but has been reinvigorated and has seen a period of phenomenal growth. We’ve launched the world’s first hydrogen double decker, we’ve launched the fastest-charging double deck electric bus on the market and we’re now the UK’s only bus builder with both a hydrogen and electric product on the market.
“Our order book is looking very healthy with our zero emission buses in high demand, and we have multiple conversations ongoing with a number of bus operators from across the UK and Ireland. And let’s not forget that this has all been achieved despite the terrible effects of the global pandemic over the past 18 months.”
Mr Collins said employees joining the firm would get the chance to be involved with world-leading technology and systems that were at the forefront of revolutionising the transport industry.
“This has all been achieved despite the terrible effects of the global pandemic over the past 18 months“
“Our zero emission buses are truly world-leading and we’re incredibly proud of the part they’re playing in the UK’s race to net zero. The fact that our employees get to play their part in this effort makes them incredibly proud, not to mention the fact that they are developing and working with the technology of the future.
Imagine the CO2 savings that would be saved by having 4,000 hydrogen buses in operation. And that’s only 10% of the entire UK bus fleet.”
“Bosch is already hydrogen-ready” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, Bosch CEO
Evidently proud of their commitment to invest €1bn over the next 3 years into fuel cell technology, a rapidly emerging part of the EU Hydrogen market. It was at Bosch’s annual press conference that Denner detailed the hydrogen investment, going on to declare that by 2030 the market for green hydrogen in the EU will be worth €40bn with annual growth rates of 65%.
These are conservative numbers when put alongside other hydrogen advocates forecasts, but regardless the market growth is certainly happening.
Denner also estimated that the mobile fuel cell components market could be worth €18bn by the end of the decade.
Bosch intend to supply electricity to residential areas, data centres and industrial manufacturers by putting 100 stationary fuel cell plants into operation this year.
Denner says Bosch is ready to lead this growing market, “We have what it takes to be a leader in this market as well.”
Denner also commented on Bosch’s joint venture with China’s Qingling Motor Group with both companies producing fuel cell power trains for a test fleet of 70 trucks, aiming to be operational as soon as the end of 2021.
Bosch are already viewed as a benchmark investor in hydrogen. Amongst recent success stories is one in Germany, the recently operational Bamberg fuel cell plant, just one example pointing the way for steep growth in an increasingly lucrative EU hydrogen market.
On June the 2nd, the European Commission, the UK and the US, and ministers from Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, China, Germany, India, Italy, Morocco, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Korea, made a joint commitment to collaborate on a Clean Hydrogen Mission at the Mission Innovation Ministerial meeting
in Chile.
Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said:
“The European Commission, together with the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking and EU Member States, will further develop the hydrogen valleys in Europe and abroad. Creating a strong network and decreasing the cost of clean hydrogen is a significant step towards achieving our ambitious EU climate goals by 2030.”
The aim of the Clean Hydrogen Mission is to deliver a minimum of 100 large-scale integrated hydrogen valleys worldwide, and diminish the costs of clean hydrogen to 2 dollars per kilogram by 2030.
Hydrogen valleys are integrated hydrogen value chains, which include the production, storage, and distribution of hydrogen to end-users.
The Mission will assemble a robust alliance between countries, research institutes, businesses and investors, to accelerate innovation in clean hydrogen as part of a global clean hydrogen economy, in alinement with the European Green Deal objectives.
The initial period of The Clean Hydrogen Mission is five years, with an extension of a further five years to enable execution of its key objectives by 2030.
“The Mission will assemble a robust alliance between countries, research institutes, businesses and investors“
Mission Innovation is a global initiative by the European Commission, on behalf of the EU and 22 countries, established to help accelerate global clean energy innovation, achieving performance breakthroughs and cost reductions, and creating affordable and reliable clean energy solutions that are widely available.
Toyota Mirai drives world-record 623 miles on single tank of hydrogen.
A new world record for the distance driven on a single tank of hydrogen has been set by Toyota’s Mirai. In a demonstration of a further benefit of hydrogen as a clean fuel source the vehicle then refuelled in 5 minutes and continued driving.
Hydrogen is a versatile energy source that can be easily stored, and unlike battery vehicles refuelling vehicles with hydrogen takes the same time as a diesel vehicle, and can then cover similar distances.
The Mirai reached an impressive 623 miles (1,003 km) to set the new record.
For long distance driving with zero-emissions Toyota claim hydrogen fuel cell vehicles such as their Mirai are the ultimate solution long term.
The record breaking drive kicked-off on the 26th of May from the Hysetco hydrogen refuelling station in Orly, France. The 623 zero-emission miles were driven on main roads south of Paris, and the record mileage and fuel consumption were verified by an independent adjudicator.
The hydrogen used for setting the new record was verified ‘green hydrogen’, meaning that it was manufactured only using renewable energy. The average fuel consumption was 0.55 kg/100km, and the Mirai can store 5.6 kg of hydrogen.
The higher hydrogen storage capacity and improved aerodynamics of the new Mirai, alongside the increased efficiency of the fuel cell system, enabled a normal driving range of approximately 404 miles, with a 5 minute standard refuel time at a 700 bar refuelling station.
The Mirai reached an impressive 623 miles (1,003 km) to set the new record, powered by zero-emission hydrogen.
The drivers used an “eco-driving” approach in order to achieve their record-breaking distance, simple methods that anyone can employ should they wish to optimise efficiency such as reduced acceleration and steady maintaining of driving speed.
Toyota is a huge advocate and supporter of zero-emission hydrogen technology, and is involved in numerous different fuel cell applications from boats (Hynova) to trucks (Hino), to taxis (Hype) and the hydrogen city (Woven City) in Mount Fuji, Japan.
A team of four drivers completed the record attempt including Victorien Erussard, the captain of Energy Observer. Toyota are a partner in the Energy Observer, which is the first Toyota fuel cell powered boat, with zero-emissions and the ability to create its own energy from the technology on board. It has been sailing around the world to demonstrate the power of hydrogen as a clean fuel, and recently took part in a renewable energy expo in Paris, during which the Eiffel Tower was illuminated green by a hydrogen powered generator.
What are the different colours of Hydrogen?
Hydrogen itself is a clean fuel with almost limitless applications, from fuelling transport to industry, and domestic homes.
However, in order to use hydrogen for these applications it has to be manufactured. And unless we’re talking about ‘green hydrogen’ then the manufacturing process can be energy-intensive, and have carbon byproducts.
So why all the different colours of hydrogen? and what do they all mean?
Here’s a very simple list to explain, in reverse order of environmental friendliness, ending with our hero clean fuel ‘green hydrogen’:
Brown hydrogen is created through the gasification of coal. Coal gasification is the process of producing syngas — a mixture consisting primarily of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, natural gas, and water vapour — from coal and water, air and/or oxygen. Historically, coal was gasified to produce coal gas, also known as “town gas”.
Grey hydrogen is produced from natural gas, and has carbon waste as a result. It is when natural gas is split into Hydrogen and CO2. However, the CO2 is not captured and is then released into the atmosphere.
Blue hydrogen uses carbon capture and storage for the greenhouse gases produced in its creation.
Green, or clean hydrogen is manufactured through the process of Electrolysis powered by only renewable energy.
Electrolysis is a simple process in which water (H2O) is split into its component parts of Hydrogen and Oxygen. An electrical current is required to split the water in an electrolysis plant, and if the source of that electricity is renewable, (i.e wind or solar), then the resulting hydrogen is classified as Green.
“Electrolysis is a simple process in which water (H2O) is split into its component parts of Hydrogen and Oxygen.“
The green hydrogen can then be loaded into trucks and delivered for use in powering a vast number of different applications. From hydrogen for refuelling stations for use in our transport systems, buses, trains or boats, gas networks or to power industrial hubs.
What is electrolysis? Electrolysis is the method by which hydrogen is produced using renewable energy.
It’s the way in which hydrogen is manufactured in order to earn its ‘green’ medal.
The process of electrolysis uses electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and this takes place in a unit called an electrolyser.
Electrolysers can vary in size, from large production plants attached directly to renewable electricity facilities (such as a wind farm), down to small units for smaller distribution requirements.
How does an electrolyser work?
An Electrolyser consists of a cathode and an anode separated by an electrolyte. Different types of electrolyte materials are used, meaning that electrolysers don’t all work in precisely the same way, but the overall process is the same.
Electrolysis plants can be powered by wind or solar energy; the hydrogen that is produced is then completely carbon free.
If the source of electricity being used for electrolysis is renewable (ie wind, solar, hydro etc) then the Hydrogen it produces results in zero greenhouse gas emissions. This is how hydrogen as an energy source has earned its green credentials.
“The majority of the electricity produced by the UK’s national grid is made using technology that creates greenhouse gas emissions“
The majority of the electricity produced by the UK’s national grid is made using technology that creates greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore powering an electrolyser using electricity from the grid is neither efficient or green.
So when looking at the benefits of hydrogen as an energy provider, it’s important to consider where the energy has come from to make it, and how green that source is. Renewable electricity powers the process of electrolysis in order to create renewable ‘green’ hydrogen, which can then be used to power transport systems, industrial plants and home heating, all with zero emissions.
UK’s first public network hydrogen gas blend to lower emissions is given go ahead.
The country’s first trial for blending hydrogen into a public natural gas network has been given the go ahead by the UK’s Health and Safety Executive, as announced by operator Northern Gas Networks.
A blend of 20% hydrogen will be delivered into the natural gas supply to Winlaton, Gateshead, supplying 668 houses, several small businesses and a school, for 10 months from August.
Residential and commercial heating causes approximately a third of the UK’s CO2 emissions. Blending 20% hydrogen throughout the UK gas grid would save around 6 million mt/year of carbon emissions, according to Northern Gas Networks.
“The project will provide more vital evidence about the possibilities of blending hydrogen into the natural gas network across the UK, as a stepping stone to decarbonizing heat with no disruption to customers,” Northern Gas Networks Head of Programme Management and H21 Project Director Tim Harwood said.
“The project will provide more vital evidence about the possibilities of blending hydrogen into the natural gas network across the UK“
“We’ve engaged with the community of Winlaton over the past 18 months and, with the support of the council, undertaken safety checks on their appliances to reassure residents that they can continue to use their gas as normal whilst playing a vital role in the decarbonization of the gas network.”
Japan use Olympic platform to demonstrate hydrogen’s potential to decarbonise our planet.
For the first time, the Olympic torch is burning hydrogen at the Tokyo Olympics.
This is significant, because in the long build up to the Olympics Japan have always maintained that their efforts to decarbonise their economy will be as much in the spotlight as the games themselves.
The games coincide with the announcement of Japan’s largest hydrogen plant powered by offshore wind energy, which is set to open on the northern island of Hokkaido as part of a national effort to slash carbon dioxide emissions.
Since 2021 was dubbed ‘The Hydrogen Olympics’, Japan have been determined to display their zero-emission hydrogen technologies, and how they’ve deployed the clean energy source in a number of different ways.
Officials are being driven around in 500 cars and 100 buses made by Toyota and running on fuel cells. Portable power plants are being used that consume hydrogen and emit only water vapour. Also in use and very much on display is the Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyu Rei hotel, which gets energy from hydrogen sourced from waste plastics.
“Officials are being driven around in 500 cars and 100 buses made by Toyota and running on fuel cells“
It can only be seen as significant, that when the eyes of the world are on Japan (one the most technologically advanced nations on the planet), the thing other than the games themselves that they are most eager to show off, is hydrogen.
UK Net-zero targets are put at risk as Battery and fuel cell strategy goes flat.
The UK House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee has completed its inquiry into the ‘Role of batteries and fuel cells in achieving Net Zero.’ and the results are deeply concerning and disappointing.
The report concludes that actions taken by the Government DO NOT align with its ambition to achieve Net Zero emissions, nor do they take advantage of opportunities presented by batteries and fuel cells for the UK’s research and manufacturing sectors.
The Committee found that:
The UK is failing to make the most of its expertise in fuel cells and next-generation batteries, in which it could take a global lead.
The Committee was alarmed by the contrast and apparent disconnect between the optimism of Ministers about the UK’s prospects and the concerns raised by other witnesses who fear that the UK is lagging behind its competitors and facing significant challenges with innovation, supply chains and skills.
“The Committee was alarmed by the contrast and apparent disconnect between the optimism of Ministers about the UK’s prospects and the concerns raised by other witnesses“
Some of the urgent recommendations included:
Urgent publication of the Government’s HYDROGEN STRATEGY and related decarbonisation strategies, to give clarity to hauliers and bus operators
Establishment of research and innovation institutions for fuel cells, to exploit the UK’s expertise and support UK companies to take a global lead.
