Hydrogen power to transform economy
HALTON is poised to take advantage of the changing face of industry as it was confirmed that hydrogen power is expected to transform the North West’s energy sector in the next five years.
The North West Hydrogen Alliance (NWHA) has revealed that the gas is predicted to be feeding into the grid to supply homes and businesses by 2024.
This will be achieved by installing what is said was the UK’s most advanced hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project, known as ‘HyNet’.
The alliance said the feat will help to decarbonise energy in Cheshire, Merseyside and Manchester.
Major manufacturing and industrial sites are also among anticipated to become consumers.
The HyNet consortium is led by one of the North West Hydrogen Alliance’s (NWHA’s) most recent members, Progressive Energy, with founding members Cadent and Peel Environmental and other members also involved.
Runcorn and Widnes could be in a position to cash in on any hydrogen rush too.
Alstom in Halebank, Widnes, is already working on converting existing rail fleet to hydrogen already, with the first trains due to be running as early as 2022.
Chemicals giant Inovyn in Runcorn has been producing hydrogen for over a century, and it can already store the gas in Cheshire’s salt caverns.
Inovyn’s parent company Ineos has said in its company magazine ‘Inch’, that is looking into whether shale hydrocarbon gas can be converted into hydrogen power by stripping the carbon and storing it, leaving pure hydrogen to be used as fuel.
In June, the Delivering The Hydrogen Economy NW conference at Heath Business And Technical Park heard that the hydrogen sector could create 33,000 jobs and attract £4bn of investment into Cheshire, the Liverpool and Manchester city regions, and Warrington, with the North West in pole position nationally to lead the way by creating the country’s first low-carbon energy cluster.
Hydrogen has an environmental advantage over conventional fossil fuels in that it produces water vapour and energy only when burned.
An Inovyn spokeswoman said the firm is taking a leading role in developing the region’s hydrogen plans.
She said: “The 2008 Climate Change Act (as amended in 2019) has set the UK a legal obligation to reduce CO2 emissions by 100% by 2050.
“To do this we need to find ways of decarbonising our energy systems.
“Hydrogen could provide clean energy for our homes, businesses and transport networks
“Hydrogen offers a way to deliver low carbon energy because when it is burned or used in a fuel cell it doesn’t produce CO2, just energy and water.
“Sustainability and innovation are at the heart of Inovyn’s strategy.
“Hydrogen is not new
● to Inovyn, but its importance is growing rapidly.
“Inovyn has a long history of the safe manufacture, distribution and use of chemicals and gases and has been producing hydrogen for over one hundred years at Runcorn Site.
“As an existing producer of Hydrogen, Inovyn is taking a leading role in the North West exploring how hydrogen can help achieve the challenging targets locally.
“Inovyn has a number of projects that are in the feasibility stages looking at production and storage of hydrogen.
“Inovyn is a partner of the North West Hydrogen Alliance, which brings together some of the UK’s most influential organisations driving forward the work to develop the region as the UK’s primary hydrogen economy and we are confident that Inovyn will play a pivotal role going forward.”
Dave Parkin, Progressive Energy director, said: “To achieve our national target of net zero emissions by 2050 it is essential that we develop a hydrogen economy in the UK.
“HyNet is a real project, with real partners undertaking real engineering which can start delivering CO2 (carbon dioxide) savings within the next five years.
“Why are we in the North West?
“The region has unique geology, with salt caverns that can be repurposed for hydrogen storage, and depleted gas fields in the Irish sea that can be used to store CO2.
“The region also has a strong industrial heritage and existing skilled workforce which make it the obvious choice.”
Ed Syson, Cadent chief safety and strategy officer, said: “HyNet is gamechanging – achieving huge reductions on carbon emissions by 2024, just five years from now.
“It is a massive step in the UK’s journey to Net Zero.
“Keeping our homes warm using the similar appliances we use today, fuelling trains, buses, lorries and potentially even some cars, and powering industrial processes in a way that simply would not be achievable by relying on green electricity alone.
“To think otherwise, is just not realistic.
“We need a true energy mix to be sustainable – and to be realistic in opting for a future that takes advantage of multiple clean energy sources, like hydrogen, to get us to net zero.
“This hydrogen project is based in North West England and drive by North West political and industrial support that wants to see it happen.
“It ticks all the boxes.”