Nearly a year on from the UK Government’s ‘Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’, Helen Boyle, Head of Regional Development (North West and West Midlands) at Cadent believes we’re at a tipping point for hydrogen. In the latest of our industry Q&A series, speaking on behalf of The North West Hydrogen Alliance, Helen outlines the challenges and opportunities to Michelle Eastty, from the elemental team.
1/ How is hydrogen helping to reduce our environmental impact?
In the future, I’d like to see hydrogen have more of a role in the energy mix – alongside electricity – to help decarbonise the UK. We’re keen to highlight that it’s not a case of gas versus electricity. You have a mixture of energy provision at the moment, and you’ll have a mixture in the future.
The growth in renewables has been absolutely phenomenal and that will carry on, and that’s the right thing to do. But there will be days when the windspeed is low and the sun isn’t bright, and for that you need hydrogen to keep people warm. Hydrogen helps provide resilience in the energy system.
2/ What are some of the challenges on the domestic side?
On the domestic side, technology provision needs to be considered. Some properties won’t be suitable for a heat pump. It’s very different from the way people are used to heating their homes at the moment. Some people may find it easy to transition to a new way of heating their home, some won’t.
Whilst the role of hydrogen, for domestic heating particularly, is still uncertain, there are many things happening over the next few years that are helping to answer questions around that, like blending hydrogen with gas.
3/ Can you tell me more about blending hydrogen with gas?
Hydrogen can be blended by up to 20 per cent volume in the gas mains, saving around seven per cent in terms of carbon emissions. That’s something you can do relatively quickly in the next two to three years in line with increasing hydrogen production.
In the ‘Ten Point Plan’ which Boris Johnson launched in November 2020, there was a target of 2023 for having all the evidence to support blending hydrogen into the gas distribution grid. Many years ago we had Towns Gas, which was partly hydrogen. It’s been done before, and we moved away from it because we found all the methane under the North Sea and there was a plentiful and really cheap supply of it.
4/ How is North West England ticking the boxes on the Ten Point Plan?
The first step, for us, is to make blending hydrogen happen, and there’s a big programme of work under the HyDeploy project. This started at Keele University in 2020, blending up to 20 per cent hydrogen into a private gas network at the campus in Staffordshire. Some campus buildings and homes that were typical for retrofit were used. People didn’t see any negative impacts on their appliances, or their boiler, or how warm they found their homes.
Stage two of HyDeploy is now taking place, on a larger scale on a public gas network in the North East. This is much more representative of what you would find up and down any street. These are a greater number of buildings, including small commercial properties. It’s not just houses that will need converting, it’s everything.
The third phase is being planned in the North West, blending hydrogen into gas mains for 2,000 properties and 300 larger commercial and industrial customers. You have businesses that use gas for heating, but also for commercial applications. We have to make sure that introducing hydrogen into the gas mains is not going to cause any production issues.
5/ How do you provide the business case for reintroducing hydrogen?
Blending helps to provide hydrogen producers, and companies interested in producing it, with the business case in order to unlock investment. At the moment it’s a chicken and egg situation. Some companies want to use hydrogen but are asking where we’ll get it from and how much it will cost.
Others are thinking about producing hydrogen but want to know who’s going to take it and how much volume can be produced for the site and what the economic models will be to support production. All of that then defines what the cost is. Blending, as a first step to re-introduce hydrogen, provides that business case as we know what volumes we can blend into the gas distribution system and where.
6/ What are the benefits of adding hydrogen to gas networks?
Gas operators are looking at their network and examining where the best injection points are, to use the most amount of hydrogen to gain the most amount of carbon benefit. When it burns, it doesn’t produce carbon monoxide, which is beneficial in a home setting.
From an air quality perspective and introducing clean air zones – transitioning to hydrogen and hydrogen transport will make a big impact on that. Once you’ve got the hydrogen economy going, it’s much easier to scale up and use it in transport and industrial settings, for example. On the whole, it will also utilise an infrastructure that already exists and customers are paying for through their current gas bills.
7/ What are some of the challenges in building a compelling case for hydrogen?
The biggest challenge is helping consumers to understand the benefits of hydrogen and the options around future technology in their homes – hydrogen-ready boilers and appliances, which give a similar experience for customers as the appliances they have today. Most local authorities have set accelerated timetables for decarbonisation, whereas national policy is aligned to a 2050 net zero date.
Some regions want to go faster and can go faster. The challenge is working with them to say what date have you set, and how do you reach it when national policy isn’t aligned to the timetable that you’ve set. How do you attract the private investment necessary to bring this all about as well as engaging businesses and consumers?
8/ Why and how has the North West England become a hub for hydrogen projects?
The North West was named as a ‘SuperPlace’ on the Ten Point Plan. That’s predominantly centred around HyNet North West, a consortium. There are other industrial clusters around the UK and we’re very supportive of them. You need hydrogen from all the industrial clusters and more on top of that in order to reach 2050, let alone any earlier.
We’re delighted that, as of 19 October, both HyNet and East Coast clusters have been confirmed as track 1 clusters for the mid-2020s and will be taken forward into Track-1 negotiations. If the clusters represent value for money for the consumer and the taxpayer then subject to final decisions of Ministers, they will receive support under the government’s CCUS Programme. This is fantastic news!
North West England is very aware of hydrogen, involving a lot of supportive stakeholders who have been working with us while we’ve been developing HyNet. The knowledge and understanding in the North West is excellent. The North West Hydrogen Alliance represents over 30 of the UK’s most influential organisations driving forward the development of a hydrogen economy and demonstrates the levels of collaboration and partnership we have in this region.
Figure 1 HyNet North West
9/ How supportive has the government been?
All the industrial clusters got investment to take them further forward and, subject to the final decision of Ministers, HyNet and East Coast clusters will receive further support under the government’s CCUS Programme. This is a serious indication that the government is supportive of hydrogen. In the recently launched Hydrogen Strategy, government talks about hydrogen forming up to 35 per cent of the future energy mix, which is really significant.
However, it’s not public money that will make this happen, it’s private investment. But they need surety that the government is going to back the hydrogen economy with supportive investment models, exactly the same way it did with offshore wind. Now the UK leads the world in that. That’s what we’re waiting to see now, with the current consultation off the back of the hydrogen strategy. We’re on a tipping point when it comes to hydrogen and it’s really exciting.
10/ Can you give me some examples of how the North West Hydrogen Alliance works to present a compelling case for hydrogen?
The North West Hydrogen Alliance helps to showcase what’s happening in hydrogen projects. Its members are representative of the full value chain – from production, storage, usage and distribution. What it’s so good at, is providing a voice for hydrogen. From consultation responses to the government on various points of policy, to speaking to industry, it’s more powerful to be able to speak as one.
11/ The North West is aiming to become the world’s first net zero industrial cluster by 2040. Is this feasible and how?
When OFGEM launched its decarbonisation action plan, it acknowledged this would be delivered regionally – it’s not one size fits all. What’s right for the North West England is not necessarily right for the South West. The tough ask that the government has is to provide a flexible enough regulatory framework and associated policies to enable that to happen. Some regions will be able to go faster than 2050 and if they can, they should.
We work closely with a range of stakeholders, from local authorities, hydrogen producers, electricity production, businesses and groups like Net Zero North West to raise the profile of what we’re doing and attract the investment to make it happen.
Figure 2 Role of hydrogen in a 2050 Net Zero Energy System
We’ve also got the benefit of really good geology – with access to offshore storage for C02.
There are the Cheshire caverns for the storage of hydrogen. There’s the legacy of the North West being the birthplace of the industrial revolution, with skills in place. There’s a variety of factors and this won’t be the story for the whole of the UK.
12/ What’s next?
The next exciting step in North West England is getting a hydrogen village trial up and running. This will help everyone to understand the consumer transition, and the experience they have in swapping over to 100% hydrogen for heating and cooking.
For further information about the North West Hydrogen Alliance visit www.nwhydrogenalliance.co.uk
