In a recently released NWHA report, the group has made calls for a greater focus on the distribution and storage infrastructure required to deliver hydrogen at scale.

Titled The role of storage of delivery a hydrogen economy in the UK, the report follows the Government’s announcement to design new business models for storage infrastructure by 2025.

The group has said the target comes too late and have made calls to see it brought forward to at least 2023 to ensure sufficient investment is made in the clean energy storage.

In the report, the NWHA have made three recommendations to the Government:

Accelerate the business model for large scale hydrogen storage
Small scale storage inclusion in the hydrogen production business model
Develop network and storage infrastructure in tandem

Additionally, the NWHA have estimated that the UK will require approximately 4TWh of underground storage to balance the seasonal variation in hydrogen demand per one million homes in the UK.

Prof. Joe Howe, Chair of the NWHA and Executive Director of the Thornton Research Institute at the University of Chester, said, “Storage is vital to unlocking the full potential of hydrogen and is essential for UK energy security. It will play an important role in balancing hydrogen production from intermittent renewables and helping to manage the UK’s daily and seasonable fluctuating heating demands.

“While progress is being made on developing much needed business models for hydrogen production, Government needs to also press ahead with policy around hydrogen storage.

“We’re calling for the 2025 deadline for hydrogen storage business models to be brought forward to 2023, to unlock investment and ensure these storage projects, which inevitably have a long lead in time, are ready for when production ramps up. The North West Hydrogen Alliance stands ready to work with Government to achieve this.”