The UK Government has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2050 with a target of a 78% reduction in carbon emissions by 2035.  For the capital, the Greater London Authority (GLA) has set an even more challenging target of achieving Net Zero for the whole of London by 2030 and to deliver this will require significant action.  ​ ​

Low-carbon hydrogen is critical to reaching the target and will allow decarbonisation of heavy industry, power generation, heavy transport and heating. The gas transmission and distribution networks have a key role in providing the transportation network to supply hydrogen to customers.

The Thames Estuary region is a clear focal point, a place where hydrogen can be deployed across a range of end users such as transport (road, maritime and air), construction and industry, making it a viable option for life in a Net Zero world.

Research shows the Thames Estuary has the capacity to support a hydrogen economy that could create 9,000 jobs, generating £3bn in GVA and driving £2.2bn investment in production capacity.

Powering the region on low carbon

London-based H2GO Power and Baxi recently partnered to develop the first decarbonised pure hydrogen boiler for commercial applications.

The solution will decarbonise heating processes from multiple industries such as cement, glass, ceramics, chemical, food & drinks, and paper & pulp. Decarbonisation of heat systems has been proven difficult and costly so far.

It could have a major positive impact on UK supply chains at a time when the government, private sector and households grapple with higher energy demands at increased costs.

The latest partnership includes an upcoming industrial scale demonstration hosted by Northern Gas Networks (NGN) to test a carbon neutral heating solution, heat-in-a-box – intended to supply heat for gas pre-heating in a safe and carbon neutral manner.

Capital Hydrogen is a collaboration between Cadent, National Grid Gas Transmission and SGN. It is a 15-20 year programme that will allow a transition from a natural gas network to a hydrogen network in London, the East of England and the South East.

By 2033, National Grid Gas Transmission will repurpose existing transmission pipelines as part of a wider Hydrogen Backbone (Project Union). It will provide 100% hydrogen transmission routes from the East of England and the South East into London, connecting hydrogen supply with hydrogen demand across the region.

In addition, in the 2020s, the plan is to develop shorter sections of fully hydrogen pipelines that connect localised hydrogen production and industrial end use clusters.

Identifying opportunities

The OGA commissioned Progressive Energy to undertook a study to consider the Bacton Catchment Area, analysing the key end users to define how the Bacton Catchment Area hydrogen market might emerge and generating an indicative future hydrogen demand profile for the region.

The study confirmed that there is a significant economic opportunity for a hydrogen led Energy Hub at Bacton and has developed a vision for the Bacton Catchment Area in this context, to inform the next phases of the Bacton Area Plan.

The natural gas fields of the Southern North Sea and the Bacton gas terminal have been part of the UK’s energy backbone for more than 50 years. Since 2004, offshore wind power has also contributed to the energy mix in the area. As society decarbonises and energy in the UK moves to a net zero footing, Bacton and the Southern North Sea can continue to play a major role.

Hydrogen East targets cluster potential

Hydrogen East unveiled its vision to develop a clean hydrogen cluster in the East of England, featuring six core electrolyser sites, last summer.

In its proposal, the collaborative partnership, Hydrogen East outlined plans for electrolyser facilities across Norfolk and Suffolk, which it claims would pave the way for development and improvements to infrastructure to be implemented.

The body said the region has ambitions to become the UK’s Clean Growth Region, with ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall having already received approval for projects in the offshore wind sector, as well as nuclear developments by EDF.

In May 2021, Hydrogen East released a study highlighting the potential for hydrogen production in transforming the Bacton, UK terminal into an international clean energy hub.

Read more: New report explores transforming Bacton into an international hydrogen hub

Nigel Cornwall, Director of Hydrogen East, said, “Hydrogen is such a versatile element and with the ability to be deployed across a variety of sectors, we should be looking to it as a powerful tool that can aid us in the transition to Net Zero.”

“It should be considered as a complement to electrification and increased roll-out of renewable generation. Already, a number of demonstrator projects are on-going around the country testing hydrogen for heat, power and transport in regions such as Aberdeen and Teesside.”

Teesside: building blue hydrogen and Net Zero hub

The North East is using its industrial history and expertise as a springboard into developing new hydrogen value chains.

In one of the headline projects, bp plans to create the UK’s largest blue hydrogen facility in the Tees Valley.

The proposed development, H2 Teesside, would begin production in 2027, is targeting 1GW of hydrogen production by 2030.  The project would be integrated with the already-planned Net Zero Teesside and Northern Endurance Partnership carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects in the region.

With 1GW hydrogen production, H2Teesside would generate and send for storage up to two million tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to capturing the emissions from the [gas] heating of one million UK households. The captured CO2 would flow through Net Zero Teesside’s facilities and be taken for subsea storage via NEP’s offshore infrastructure.

The H2 project would be developed in stages, with an initial 500MW of blue hydrogen capacity in production by 2027 or earlier and additional capacity to be deployed by 2030 as decarbonisation of the industrial cluster gathers pace. bp sees potential for further hydrogen demand in Teesside beyond 2030. A final investment decision (FID) is expected to come early 2024.

Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power), which is set to be the world’s first commercial-scale gas-fired power station with carbon capture, was shortlisted in phase-2 of the UK Government’s Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) cluster sequencing process last August, and will now proceed to a due diligence stage.

NZT Power sits at the heart of a decarbonized cluster of industries on Teesside and will be connected to the CO2 transportation and storage infrastructure being developed by the Northern Endurance Partnership to serve the East Coast Cluster.

Powering ahead in the Humber

In April 2021, SSE Thermal and Equinor unveiled plans to develop two first-of-a-kind, low-carbon power stations in the UK’s Humber region, including one of the UK’s first power stations with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, and the world’s first major 100% hydrogen-fuelled power station.

The plans, underpinned by a new cooperation agreement between the two companies, would support the UK’s transition to Net Zero and accelerate the decarbonisation of the Humber, the UK’s largest and most carbon-intensive industrial cluster. The projects have the potential to create thousands of skilled, green jobs and revitalise a key industrial heartland.

The two decarbonised power stations, which would form a ‘clean power hub’ near Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, would be among the first in the world to utilise CCS and hydrogen technologies.

Keadby 3 and Keadby Hydrogen would replace older, carbon-intensive generation on the electricity grid, providing flexible and efficient power to support intermittent renewable generation and maintain security of supply through the transition.

A potential hydrogen plant facility capable of providing 100MW of power is among the most recent planning applications in North Lincolnshire.

Renewable electricity generated from the world’s largest offshore windfarm will power the production of renewable hydrogen. A pipeline to export the hydrogen to the Humber Refinery is also part of the plans put together jointly by Ørsted Gigastack Limited and Phillips 66 Limited.

Equinor and Cadent are also working together to explore developing a hydrogen town in Lincolnshire.

In October 2021, the East Coast Cluster was named one of the UK’s first two CCUS clusters following a successful bid in Phase-1 of the government’s process.

OGCI Climate Investments – the $1bn-plus investment fund of The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative – announced three years ago the formation of a consortium of OGCI members (Eni, Equinor, Shell and Total, with bp as operator) to accelerate the development of the Net Zero Teesside project, previously known as the Clean Gas Project.

East Coast Hydrogen, a collaboration between Northern Gas Networks, Cadent and National Grid Gas Transmission, is an ambitious programme which has the potential to connect over 7GW of hydrogen production by 2030.

It represents an opportunity for government and the private sector to work together in delivering on ambitious decarbonisation targets: over a 15-year timescale, it would see up to 39,000 businesses and over 4m homes converted to hydrogen.

H2 View – London calling

H2 View recently confirmed the speaker agenda for its An Ecosystem for Green Hydrogen summit in London on May 22-23.

Read more:  Speaker agenda confirmed for H2 View’s London Event (h2-view.com)

Set to dissect the ecosystem requirements to truly realise a green hydrogen-fuelled future across industries, transport, and society, the event will tackle all sides of the energy ecosystem, from wind and solar power requirements to additionality, water sustainability, electrolyser technologies, and the investment and policy climate.

Hosted at the London Science Museum, the day and a half summit, attendees will hear from key players across the hydrogen and renewable energy value chain, with the hope determining how the energy transition can be fast tracked by joining up the ecosystem, accelerating in union, and realising its leveraged and latent potential.

Click here to register your interest.