Net Zero Hydrogen Fund strands 1 and 2 – summaries of successful applicants round 1 (April 2022) competition – UK.
Trecwn Green Energy Hub is an innovative project from Statkraft, Europe’s largest renewable power generator, aiming to produce green hydrogen in the heart of Pembrokeshire. Located at a former MOD site, previously used for the maintenance and storage of naval munitions, the project will utilise the region’s excellent wind and solar resources to produce a sustainable fuel for transport and other industrial applications.
Statkraft’s proposed project would consist of a 15MW electrolyser system, built within the valley, directly co-located with onshore wind and solar installations. With the electricity grid in the area at near-capacity, all the renewable power generated onsite would be used in the production of green hydrogen. Trecwn Green Energy Hub therefore provides a solution to a problem that has hampered development within the area in recent years, due to the expensive grid connection required.
The site is uniquely well connected, benefiting from access to a private spur from the Fishguard to Swansea rail line which presents an of using hydrogen to power trains. Hydrogen trains deliver many of the benefits of railway electrification, such as using a zero-carbon fuel, but at significantly lower capital costs and with fewer requirements for new infrastructure.
Easy access for shipment to nearby ports and harbours opens up the potential for maritime offtakers or for the creation of new fuelling hubs for road vehicles in the port towns. The site is also well connected by road, with a dedicated access road created as part of the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone.
The Trecwn site, which used to employ over 500 people at its peak, contains several man-made caverns, originally constructed by the MOD to store munitions. Statkraft plans to investigate the feasibility of utilising these caverns for large scale green hydrogen storage, which could boost the region’s energy security. Storing green hydrogen for later use could also help local organisations to meet their zero-emissions targets.
The local community and former workers at the site have long voiced their hopes to see the site returned to appropriate industrial and commercial use. Statkraft hopes that the production of green hydrogen at Trecwn will act as a catalyst, attracting innovative businesses to the valley and regenerating industry in the wider area.
This ground-breaking project would put Wales at the forefront of innovation whilst helping the UK and Wales reach their decarbonisation goals.
Ballymena Hydrogen
Northern Ireland is home to the Bamford Bus Company Limited (trading as ‘Wrightbus’), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of hydrogen buses, and a public transport operator, Translink, that has made commitments to decarbonising its operations. In line with other bus operators across the UK, it is anticipated that Translink will adopt electric buses for some of its routes, but there are likely to be a number of bus routes that will require hydrogen fuelled buses to be decarbonised.
There is currently a lack of local hydrogen production in Northern Ireland to meet the existing, limited, demand for hydrogen as a transport fuel. This absence of affordable, low carbon hydrogen supplies is likely to restrict the development of the hydrogen energy market in Northern Ireland until it is addressed.
Wrightbus (the ‘Company’) is proposing to address this issue by installing and operating a multi-megawatt low carbon hydrogen production and distribution system at its factory in Ballymena that will have the capability of meeting the total hydrogen demand of more than 250 buses. The project is being designed to enable the rapid expansion of hydrogen production should additional demand for low carbon hydrogen in Northern Ireland come forward.
The electrolyser will be directly coupled to a new solar photovoltaic system located adjacent to the Wrightbus factory in Ballymena. The hydrogen production system will also be connected to the electricity grid and supplied via other renewables such as onshore wind.
This diversity of renewable energy supplies will ensure that hydrogen can be produced reliably throughout the year, and that the opportunities for the electrolyser to support integration of an increasing proportion of intermittent renewable generators into the energy system are maximised.
This will be a flagship project for Northern Ireland, and strategically important for the UK as a whole, as it will catalyse further zero emission bus deployment opportunities, help to raise the profile of Wrightbus and reinforce the Company’s leading position in the global hydrogen bus industry.
The project will thus create new economic opportunities within Northern Ireland while supporting decarbonisation efforts and contributing to the UK Government’s targets for domestic renewable hydrogen production capacity.
Conrad Energy Hydrogen Lowestoft
Conrad Energy Hydrogen will build a new hydrogen production capacity of 2MW, using electrolysis in Lowestoft, East Suffolk.
Conrad Energy is an Independent Power Producer owning and operating a range of assets including flexible generation, battery storage and solar. The business also provides services to customers including supply agreements, PPA’s and private wire. Conrad Energy has demonstrated the ability to complete projects quickly to a very high standard.
Lowestoft was identified by Hydrogen East as a key location for swift deployment of a commercial hydrogen project. This study concluded that the area had a large number of hydrogen opportunities, including for marine vessels, industrial fuel, bus and refuse truck fuel, and gas grid injection.
This aligns very well with the flexible generation site that Conrad was already developing. By locating the electrolysis at that site, the project can leverage the existing grid connection and infrastructure, resulting in very fast implementation and hydrogen production in 2024.
Electrolysers and other plant including compression and storage will be supplied by British manufacturers, and the relatively small scale of the project, will help fast delivery through the developing hydrogen supply chain.
The project will be powered by renewable electricity under a Power Purchase Agreement, sleeved through the grid, with real time demonstration that renewable generation correlates with electrolyser operation.
The hydrogen will initially be used as vehicle fuel for marine vessels serving offshore wind turbines, with several other off-takers also interested in using the hydrogen. The plant will produce 150 tonnes of hydrogen per year, assuming 30% load factor due to intermittent renewable power input, which will annually eliminate the usage of 500,000 litres of diesel, reducing emissions by 1,250 tonnes of CO2-equivalent.
Conrad Energy is developing a pipeline of about 100MW of hydrogen projects. The Lowestoft project is the first of these with significant interest from offtakers, and it will provide verification of the commercial assumptions and technical integration; furthermore it will give direct experience to several organisations and over 100 people involved in the project, across the full project lifecycle including regulatory, legal, supply chain and operational.
The knowledge gained from this project will be transformational and will be shared with the wider hydrogen community; furthermore it will catalyse other Conrad projects and allow a programme of electrolytic hydrogen sites to be delivered across the UK.
Didcot Green Hydrogen Electrolyser
This project involves the delivery of a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study for an electrolyser facility to produce green hydrogen at RWE’s Didcot site, Oxfordshire.
The FEED study will involve several activities that are necessary for understanding the possibility of an electrolyser’s deployment, including producing design specifications as well as undertaking consenting and environmental baseline activities. Hydrogen produced by the project would be targeted at decarbonising the region with a mix of viable offtake routes present. The Didcot area has a number of off-takers which could use the hydrogen locally as well as distribute via their own networks.
The project is delivered by RWE, an international leading supplier of renewable electricity, with onshore and offshore wind farms, solar power, hydro, and battery storage facilities operating globally. RWE has a substantial pipeline of renewable energy and hydrogen projects under the ‘Growing Green’ strategy, and is expecting to invest up to €50 billion in its core business by 2030.
The company is ideally positioned to lead the delivery of green hydrogen projects, with several projects undergoing development in Europe, an established in-house hydrogen engineering team, and existing relationships with electrolyser manufacturers.
RWE is supported by the company’s own inhouse engineering consultancy RWE Technology UK, which has extensive experience in delivering FEED studies globally.
The position of the Didcot site within an urban environment and near high-activity highways sets this project apart from other hydrogen production plants that tend to solely target industrial clusters.
The delivery of this FEED study and the knowledge gathered will significantly de-risk future projects with a similar geographical setting, which is key to enabling the UK to transition to a hydrogen-fuelled economy.
Green Hydrogen St Helens
A joint venture (JV) company, which will be formed by the consortium partners Progressive Energy, lead developer and HyNet founding partner; Statkraft, Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy; and Foresight Group, a listed sustainability-led alternative assets investment manager, intends to deploy a green hydrogen production plant at Pilkington UK Limited’s (PUKL) Greengate Works site in St Helens.
Under this arrangement, the JV will have a lease agreement with PUKL for a specific plot of land at Greengate Works, and will sell hydrogen to PUKL ‘over the fence’ as a replacement for natural gas to fuel the main float glass furnace.
PUKL has already received funding from BEIS, under the Industrial Fuel Switching Competition, to demonstrate operation on hydrogen, which was successfully executed in August 2021. This use of green hydrogen in the glass industry, however, will be a world-first. The combination of green hydrogen production and glass production represents significant levels of innovation, particularly in respect of systems and controls integration.
The core objective of the work is to produce a Front-end Engineering and Design (FEED) study that enables the subsequent procurement of an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract to build the hydrogen production plant at Greengate Works.
The FEED study will include the core electrolyser technology, full balance of plant (BoP) to include rectifier, dryer etc, along with all relevant electrical cabling, controls and pipework to enable hydrogen production and supply of fuel into the float glass furnace.
The work will also support the development and submission of relevant consenting applications along with the development of initial commercial agreements.
Green Hydrogen Winnington & Middlewich
A joint venture company (JV), which will be formed by the consortium partners Progressive Energy, lead developer and HyNet founding partner; Statkraft, Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy; and Foresight Group, a listed sustainability-led alternative assets investment manager, intends to deploy green hydrogen production at TATA Chemical Europe’s (TCE) Winnington and Middlewich sites in Cheshire.
Under this arrangement, the JV will have a lease agreement with TCE for specific plots of land at both sites, and will sell hydrogen ‘over the fence’ as a replacement for natural gas to fuel steam-raising boilers.
TCE has undertaken a feasibility study in partnership with Progressive Energy to evidence that its boilers can be safety run on hydrogen and intends to undertake a related FEED study concurrently with this work.
This use of green hydrogen as a fuel in the chemicals industry will arguably be a world-first. The combination of green hydrogen production and chemicals manufacture represents significant levels of innovation, particularly in respect of systems and controls integration.
The core objective of the work is to produce a Front-end Engineering and Design (FEED) study that enables the subsequent procurement of an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract to build the hydrogen production plants at Winnington and Middlewich.
The FEED study will include the core electrolyser technology, full balance of plant (BoP) to include rectifier, dryer etc, along with all relevant electrical cabling, controls and pipework to enable hydrogen production and supply of fuel into the boilers.
The work will also support the development and submission of relevant consenting applications along with the development of initial commercial agreements.
Inverness Green Hydrogen Hub
Inverness Green Hydrogen Hub plans to deploy a major green hydrogen hub in Inverness, comprising green hydrogen production, storage and dispensing, and new onsite renewable energy generation.
The hydrogen facility would scale from 6 MW of alkaline electrolyser capacity (enough capacity to generate up to 2.5 tonnes of green hydrogen per day) to upwards of 10 tonnes a day (24 MW) over time. The facility would be powered by an array of renewable energy generation assets, comprising wind and/or solar PV and backed by grid-connected renewable energy supply.
FEED studies will determine the optimal configuration of energy sources for production that meets off taker needs, including placement/configuration of the renewables, design of the facility, and optimal positioning of refuelling and distribution points. This process is a fundamental step in the Highland Council’s ambition to transform the region into a leader in hydrogen usage and distribution.
Further to the aims of the Inverness Hub, H2 Green Limited, supported though a memorandum of understanding with the Highland Council, is developing plans for a regional hydrogen hub network, with a shared vision of creating a UK-first regional network of green hydrogen supply. The Inverness Hub is the foundation stone of the hydrogen network, underpinning the development of its regional hydrogen economy.
A stable supply of hydrogen across the Highland Council region (the UK’s largest local government area, covering 32.9% of Scotland) should unlock hydrogen adoption in this hard-to-electrify area, that (due to its mountainous topography & cold climate) is less suitable for Battery Electric Vehicles.
H2 Green are in discussions with a range of potential off takers in Inverness and vicinity. This includes key players in rail, transport, fuel distribution, freight, retail, and industry. With such a diversity and scale of local offtake potential, H2 Green are designing the facility to accommodate 4x to 6x expansion by 2030.
Furthermore, H2 Green have obtained interest from a local fuel distributor, to reach beyond the local area to other regional hydrogen consumers, and are in the process of formalising that relationship.
H2 Green Limited is a subsidiary of Getech Group PLC that is developing several green hydrogen projects in the UK, among other renewable energy developments that will play a significant role in the UK’s transition to a net zero economy.
Mannok Green Hydrogen Valley
Mannok is a leading independent supplier of building products to the Northern Ireland (NI) & United Kingdom (U.K.) markets. Located in Co. Fermanagh in NI on the border it is regionally significant employing over 800 employees across all business divisions.
One of Mannok’s core values is to be a leader in sustainability. To this end Mannok are proposing in partnership with Government agencies to design a project that will generate local green hydrogen using best in-class technology powered by existing wind farm assets.
Green Hydrogen will be generated from direct wire connection from local wind assets (54MW Windfarm) using a 5MW electrolyser. It will also include a hydrogen re-fuelling station (HRS) system and the necessary pipelines & storage system.
The following benefits will accrue to the business and the wider community:
- reduce emissions & air pollution by displacing fossil fuels (Diesel) with green hydrogen
- one of the first green hydrogen projects of its kind at scale in Northern Ireland
- utilising curtailed or unused wind energy that cannot be accepted onto the grid
- generating a new green zero emission fuel from a renewable energy source
- enable decarbonisation of Mannok’s extensive fleet heavy goods vehicles and transition to zero emission truck technologies
- contribute to the NI emissions targets under the NI Green Growth Strategy and overall UK targets under the Climate Action plan
- as an early adopter it will act as a catalyst for other local businesses to scale up green hydrogen use
- knowledge sharing with real world data of an actual megawatt scale green hydrogen project with added benefits of being a producer and simultaneously the end-user
- open ups the potential of new skills development and employment opportunities supporting a local vibrant hydrogen economy
- as a manufacturing entity Mannok can use the oxygen which is a by-product of the hydrogen generation process to significantly improve the efficiency of Industrial processes
This is an Important keystone project which forms an Integral part of a larger long-term Energy Valley vision of the future using green electrons and green molecule to decarbonise the business. Moreover, these projects could form the basis of a collaborative cross border green energy HUB for the strategic economic, social and environmental benefit of the region and its communities, both North and South.
MCRU Integrated Hydrogen Delivery for a Fuel Cell Van Fleet Pilot
This project aims to use low carbon hydrogen generated from electrolysis to be distributed using mobile compressor refuelling units, MCRU’s. The distributed hydrogen will supply hydrogen vehicles that are to be refuelled in a highly constrained environment.
The project will demonstrate the benefits and innovation of mobile hydrogen refuelling, combining storage, compression and dispensers all on one chassis, and the units will take up minimal land space for designated periods of time in a constrained environment.
The design and operation of the initial MCRU’s will be tailored to the requirements of British Gas’ fleet of vans in the UK. Once demonstrated on this project, the MCRU concept can be rolled out to supply hydrogen for vehicle refuelling to other customers.
A significant challenge faced by British Gas and other companies is in decarbonising long-haul and inner-city journeys, as these are currently impractical to electrify. This project will aim to solve this problem by deploying MCRU’s for the refuelling of hydrogen vehicles for the necessary locations. This is the primary objective.
At present, there is no option for a portable hydrogen compressor inclusive MRU. Currently available options only either transport hydrogen or require a stationary compressor installed on the ground. This restricts the ability for some fleets to transition to hydrogen vehicles, since many do not have space for a fixed compressor installation.
When considering the variability of fleet operations throughout the year, traditional hydrogen MRUs without compressors are unable to meet the requirements. Therefore, the proposed solution is an MCRU, a mobile compressor and refuelling unit.
CNG Services have previously built MCRUs with sister company CNG Fuels, as part of their solution for CNG filling stations, making CNG fuel available before the fixed ground installations have been completed.
Ryze Hydrogen intend to be the offtaker of this project to supply transport customers, including British Gas vehicles and potentially Centrica’s wider fleet. Ryze is a leading hydrogen supplier in the UK. Ryze will deliver this hydrogen through its existing and developing hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, including through mobile refuelling solutions that will allow for flexibility in location.
Ryze will work closely with its sister company Wrightbus, as well as other vehicle OEMs, to expand the amount of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles on the UK roads.
The project looks to maximise refuelling efficiency for a malleable large-scale vehicle network with a system investment starting with the British Gas fleet, and then will expand to other customers.
Lanarkshire Green Hydrogen
Octopus Hydrogen is a hydrogen developer and technology company. Its aim is to produce green hydrogen using electrolysers powered entirely by renewable energy.
Green hydrogen is produced from water by using renewable electricity sources, making it a vital clean fuel for the future, particularly in hard to abate sectors. This critical resource will help tackle climate change and deliver new jobs, in a sector where the UK can be world leading.
Lanarkshire Green Hydrogen will deploy 15MW of electrolysis directly connected to an onshore wind farm, to produce over 3.5 tonnes per day of green hydrogen. The hydrogen will be used by customers to replace high emission fuels such as diesel and support the decarbonisation of sectors like commercial transport. It can also be used to displace grey hydrogen used in industrial processes.
Octopus Hydrogen’s innovative technology platform will optimise and manage the power inputs to the electrolyser, ensuring that the maximum amount of electricity from the wind farm is used. Through developing the direct connection to the wind farm and operating it efficiently, production can be optimised, which drives down costs.This project has the potential to play a role in grid balancing through the targeted use of renewable generation when it’s plentiful.
15MW of electrolysis directly connected to a renewable asset has yet to be demonstrated within the UK. One of the first of its kind in the UK, Lanarkshire Green Hydrogen will harness the power of Scotland’s abundant wind generation to produce green hydrogen, with innovation at each step of the process.
The Knockshinnoch Green Hydrogen Hub Project
The Knockshinnoch Green Hydrogen Hub Project (KGH2P) will deliver one of the first fully off-grid renewable hydrogen supply systems on the mainland UK.
KGH2P – situated in East Ayrshire, Scotland – will deploy turbines with capacities of around 4 MW, with the potential to use refurbished turbines to enhance upstream CO2 emissions savings. The project will also contain a battery, that will be directly connected to a 2.5 MW electrolyser to produce fuel-cell grade hydrogen for the transport sector. The hydrogen will exit the electrolyser at 99.999% purity, and 30 bar before being compressed to approximately 380 bar and stored in modular site storage systems. These systems enable the rapid filling of mobile trailers which will move this hydrogen to power transport, and other hydrogen applications.
Once operational, KGH2P will enable the commercial deployment of hydrogen mobility by supplying over 160 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen per year to the sector. This will help to mitigate UK transport emissions by laying the hydrogen supply foundations for the country’s ever-growing zero-emission bus and truck fleets.
The project has significant replication potential to ensure that hydrogen can be produced in areas of local demand and weak grid supply thereby reducing the need for the transportation of the hydrogen, further saving on CO2 emissions.
Renantis has been the lead participant in Net Zero hydrogen fund being supported by its partners Logan Energy, a specialist in the manufacturing and installation of hydrogen systems and Hive Hydrogen, which is supporting on Hydrogen offtake arrangements for the project.
HyNet Hydrogen Production Plant HPP2
Vertex Hydrogen is a leading player in the energy transition, which is developing the first large scale, low carbon hydrogen production hub in the UK. This will produce (in its initial phases) 1,000MW of hydrogen capacity (enough to power a city like Liverpool) and capture some 1.8 million tonnes of carbon per annum (equivalent to taking 750,000 cars off the roads).
By 2030, Vertex expects to deliver nearly 4GW of low carbon hydrogen – 40% of the UK Government’s national target. The investment in the project is an expected £1 billion in the UK’s largest industrial region (the North-West) to enable industry and power generation businesses to switch to low carbon energy, helping to secure and grow vital industries and jobs and unlocking billions of pounds of related investment.
An integral part of HyNet, one of two of the UK government’s Track 1 clusters for industrial decarbonisation, Vertex is based at Essar’s Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port.
The project is planned as two plants at the same location (HPP1 and HPP2). These plants will use leading technology designed to capture 97% or more of CO2 and meet the Government’s Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard with the CO2 safely transported and stored in the HyNet infrastructure. The HPP1 plant has already completed its Front-End Engineering Design (‘FEED’) and the HPP2 plant is expected to complete FEED in 2023.
Kintore Hydrogen
Kintore Hydrogen is a 3GW, grid connected, electrolytic hydrogen project that aims to utilise excess wind power in Scotland to produce low-carbon, green hydrogen and supply it to the UK’s most carbon intensive industrial clusters through existing gas transmission pipelines.
The development of the first 500MW phase of the project will be joint funded via Strand 1 of the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund. Upon completion, Kintore Hydrogen will be one of the largest of its kind in Europe.
The project offers a number of benefits to the UK, including:
- delivering decarbonisation: The project is aiming to maximize the potential of the UK’s renewable energy reserves. Installing flexible electrolyser demand facilitates the build out of more wind power, to further decarbonise the electricity grid, as well as displacing natural gas with low carbon, green hydrogen
- accelerating the UK’s energy security and independence: the government has set out plans to scale up and accelerate affordable, clean and secure energy made in Britain. Projects such as Kintore Hydrogen are an important step in delivering on these plans by reducing energy imports from overseas
- aiding nationally important low-carbon infrastructure: Kintore Hydrogen will help facilitate faster renewables scale up as well as underpinning the conversion of natural gas transmission pipelines to carry hydrogen – infrastructure that will be critical to the UK’s energy transition
- encouraging investment in UK hydrogen supply chains and skills: The project will create jobs in the construction and operation of the plant and will encourage investment in UK supply chains and skills needed to develop the emerging hydrogen economy
The UK government has identified green hydrogen as critical to the net zero transition. Kintore Hydrogen is equivalent to 30% of the country’s 2030 target of 10 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity, supporting the growth of Scottish wind and pioneering large-scale electrolysis integrated with nationally strategic infrastructure for transportation.
H2NorthEast
Kellas Midstream is developing H2NorthEast, a CCUS-enabled low carbon ‘blue’ Hydrogen Production Facility (HPF) located at the company’s CATS natural gas processing Terminal on Teesside. CATS is within the Teesside industrial cluster and adjacent to the planned routing of the East Coast Cluster CO2 Transportation & Storage Network. H2NorthEast is a cornerstone project for the East Coast Cluster CO2 Transportation & Storage Network and, as a blue hydrogen project, will underpin its utilisation.
H2NorthEast Phase1 will develop a 355 MWth HHV HPF with an October 2027 Commercial Operation Date. Phase 1 is underpinned by base load demand from multiple Teesside industrial customers who are mainly seeking to fuel switch from natural gas to hydrogen; MoUs have been executed with Offtakers in excess of the proposed capacity. Feedstock will be sourced directly from UK North Sea gas supplies and MoUs have been executed with a number of producers. H2NorthEast will be financed by Kellas owners BlackRock and GIC, two of the world’s largest private infrastructure investors.
Phase 1 will capture 0.6MTe CO2/annum, which will be compressed and delivered to the East Coast Cluster T&S Network at the CATS site boundary. Carbon capture efficiency >97% is achievable depending on selected technology. Phase 1 will produce hydrogen with emissions intensity of around 10gCO2e/MJ H2, well below the Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard.
H2NorthEast has inherent advantages which will enhance its deliverability and materially reduce costs including: development within the CATS Site; proximity to base load industrial customers; potential access to nearby salt caverns for operational hydrogen storage; and processing displaced fuel gas from Offtakers within CATS, creating unique synergy between CATS, H2NorthEast and Offtakers.
H2NorthEast supports the Government’s levelling up agenda through creating 779 jobs during construction and 125 during operations, predominantly within the Northeast of England. This equates to GVA of £415m. Additionally, new Offtaker jobs will be created and existing ones protected.
H2NorthEast is also well placed to support continued development of the hydrogen market through planned expansion to >1GW in line with anticipated demand growth, and would contribute as much as 10% of the UK’s target hydrogen capacity by 2030. H2NorthEast is an innovative, replicable project proving the scalability of high carbon capture rates and demonstrating the commercially viable, industry-integrated, UK production of low carbon blue hydrogen.
Port of Felixstowe Green Hydrogen Project
ScottishPower and Hutchison Ports have identified the Port of Felixstowe as a highly strategic location for a large-scale green hydrogen hub. Deploying 100MW of electrolytic hydrogen production by 2026, the project will provide a significant contribution to the UK Government low-carbon hydrogen production capacity targets of 10GW by 2030. Felixstowe is the UK’s busiest port facility – served by excellent road, rail, and sea infrastructure – and sits within Freeport East, one of 8 new freeports in England, designated by the UK government.
The system will use 100% renewable electricity to power electrolysers, which take in water and produce carbon free green hydrogen. The production of green hydrogen at Felixstowe will help Hutchison Ports and Freeport East realise their ambition of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions whilst facilitating trade and economic development. Hutchison Ports will benefit from the carbon free fuel which will provide the means to fuel-switch machinery, including terminal tractors, cranes and rail shunters and will be used in on-site vehicles.
The development also opens up new opportunities for surrounding industries to decarbonise their operations, fulfilling local demand for hydrogen liquefaction and ammonia production. This project provides an optimal location for future refuelling facilities for road hauliers and rail freight operators, with an ability to respond to growing demand.
The project will be one of the world’s first green hydrogen hubs satisfying a wide range of demands whilst being demonstrated at the UK’s largest port facility. The port links UK businesses with over 190 countries worldwide, handles 40% of all the UK’s trade with Asia, and serves EU markets through regular container and roll/on-roll-off services, making it a major UK gateway port for global trade. As a key connection point for global trade, it has excellent routes to future expansion of green hydrogen production through development of export infrastructure serving national and international markets.
Net Zero Hydrogen Fund strands 1 and 2: summaries of successful applicants round 1 (April 2022) competition, March 30, 2023