In mid-August, the UK government published its long-awaited hydrogen strategy. It was originally scheduled to be released in the spring, but its official publication has been delayed. The plan is to use hydrogen to decarbonize the UK economy, including areas of industry, transport, and thermal power. An extremely interesting element of the strategy is the design of 100% hydrogen-fuelled villages and towns.
The origins of the history of hydrogen are closely linked to Great Britain, and more specifically to Henry Cavendish, a British chemist who in the mid-18th century was the first to discover and describe a “flammable gas”, making the separation of hydrogen. Since then, it has played a significant role in the economy of the British Isles. Initially, it was used to fertilize fields, light streets, and heat homes. Later, as in many other countries, it was used primarily in refineries, the chemical industry, and processing. Until now, its production in Great Britain has been based mainly on fossil fuels without carbon capture, and the most common method of obtaining it was steam methane reforming (SMR), which requires high inputs of carbon and is therefore highly carbon-intensive.
In recent years, the UK has been aiming to reduce the level of emissions from its domestic economy, but in contrast to the assumptions adopted by European Union member states, it has been pointing not only to zero-emission green hydrogen but also to blue hydrogen, the use of which has long aroused considerable controversy.
UK Hydrogen Strategy sets its sights on green and blue hydrogen
The British have pledged to achieve by 2030. 5 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity, which puts them on par with Germany and Italy. They emphasize that it will be “low-carbon hydrogen” for good reason. This is because the UK’s goal is to combine the production and use of green hydrogen and blue hydrogen, which is produced using fossil fuels with carbon capture mechanisms that currently average 70-90% efficiency. This is a deliberate move as experts believe the UK has the facilities and location advantage to potentially store large deposits of CO₂.
However, both blue and green hydrogen face the obstacle of their still average affordability. Therefore, the document points out the need for funding schemes, where it assumes total grants of around £900 million, aimed not only at projects carried out by hydrogen market players but also for end-users to ensure a market for the new solutions.
The UK’s hydrogen strategy, like many others in the first instance, emphasizes the deployment of hydrogen technology in transport. In particular, in urban bus transport, rail, and aviation. So far, the exact amount of funding for this purpose has not been indicated, but it is expected to be a substantial amount spread over the next few years of the transition. An additional £55 million is earmarked for the decarbonization of the transport sector to convert existing industrial machinery to run on hydrogen and £40 million to convert heavy machinery to run on hydrogen. These measures are expected to make 20-35% of the UK’s total energy consumption rely on gas by 2050.
And while the strategy indicates a broad spectrum of hydrogen use in the economy, in its original form it left much ambiguity about the transformation of the heating sector, specifically the number of subsidies that will be provided for this purpose. The document and subsequent publications highlight the potential of using a mixture of around 20% hydrogen in natural gas networks, which would achieve a reduction in emissions of around 7%. There are already projects across the UK that are implementing and exploring the potential of this solution. Natural gas continues to play a key role in stabilizing the UK’s energy system. However, the plan for the next few years is to move away from its use in favor of developing clean technologies, including hydrogen and nuclear.
Boris Johnson’s ten-point plan
The UK’s hydrogen strategy is the effect of the Energy White Paper adopted late last year, from which the “Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution” (The Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution) by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The aim of the plan is to reduce emissions from the national economy by 230 million tons and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, which will result in the creation of over 250,000 new jobs.
The plan unveiled by the Prime Minister is expected to cost the UK £12 billion, with offshore wind, nuclear, public transport, aviation, and maritime, homes and public buildings, carbon capture and storage, environment, innovation and finance, and the hydrogen economy among the key areas of investment. According to it and the strategy’s goals, the first hydrogen-powered village and city, which will include thousands of residential buildings, is expected to be built in the UK before the end of the decade.
What will the UK’s first hydrogen village look like?
At the beginning of August, the British media were focused on this unique project. According to the government’s pledge, the first hydrogen test village in the country is to be built by the end of 2025, so there is not much time left and the plans are extremely ambitious. The trial is to include a representative base of around 2,000 homes, offices, and other buildings that will use 100% hydrogen energy for property heating, water, and kitchen appliances over the next 12 months. The project places particular emphasis on using the existing gas grid infrastructure and adapting it for hydrogen operation.
And although the test village is to be based entirely on hydrogen, the implementation of the project requires cooperation with another ongoing project, HyDeploy, which distributes a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen (20%) through the public gas network. By working with practitioners, it will be possible to gain relevant information and estimate what resources will be required to design the entire plant and maintain the full hydrogen network. This knowledge will help determine how weather and changing conditions and seasons will affect the hydrogen conversion process and network operation.
The project is first and foremost an environmental and economic opportunity for the UK to adapt already existing gas installations to operate low and zero-carbon gas, which will reduce emissions from the national economy and create new businesses and jobs. This is an extremely exciting project that is already being followed by other countries around the world.
