Hydrogen | H2
’s evolving role in the energy transition
Hydrogen is no longer seen as the answer to every tough question in the low-carbon energy transition, but it is still expected to have a role in helping manage a low-carbon electricity sector
Janet Wood
A few years ago hydrogen was the answer to decarbonisation prayers. It was seen at that time as an all-purpose tool for the energy transition and it was considered likely to have many uses in areas that were particularly difficult to decarbonise. That included as a direct replacement for natural gas in high-temperature industrial processes or power generation, as long term energy storage, in heavy transport where batteries were impractical, or even in domestic
gas networks. In 2024 the US DoE Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program (H2Hubs) included up to $7 billion to establish seven regional ‘clean hydrogen hubs’ across the USA, and on 20 November US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said it would “kickstart a new domestic hydrogen industry that can produce fuel from almost any energy resource in virtually every part of the country and that can power heavy duty vehicles, heat homes, and fertilize crops.”
Three facets of the hydrogen industry have to be commercialised to realise that vision. They are hydrogen supply, demand and transport.
Moving electrolysers down the cost curve
Almost all hydrogen production is currently from steam reforming of fossil fuels. Low-carbon production would require the addition of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to that process, or bypassing fossil fuels altogether, the use of renewables to power electrolysis to split water into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen. The latter has the support of campaigners who believe the energy transition should mean moving away from any extraction and use of fossil fuels. But it has also caught the eye of the renewable and nuclear industries as a way of turning the problem of abundance into an asset. Basing low-carbon electricity generation around wind and solar (potentially with nuclear) is expected to result in over-supply at some times (and under-supply at others). This excess could be used to power electrolysers to produce and store hydrogen from water. What is more, electrolysers share some of the characteristics – small unit size, fast development cycle and commercial-scale manufacturing of thousands of units – that have helped technologies like PV and batteries move rapidly down the cost curve. It seems like a virtuous circle. So much so that many countries with renewable resources published plans to become major hydrogen exporters – Brazil even announced that it would develop major industries in offshore wind and in hydrogen produced by electrolysis, as a mutually supporting strategy.
GB’s Project Union: pipeline routes. Project Union aims to convert existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure and build new pipelines, where needed, to transport 100% hydrogen, connecting the industrial clusters at Teesside, Humberside and Grangemouth as well as linking up Southampton, the North West and South Wales. It will also connect to strategic hydrogen production sites, including St Fergus, storage sites and Bacton, connecting UK hydrogen to European networks. Source: National Gas
30 | January/February 2025|
www.modernpowersystems.com
The UK government has recently confirmed funding via HAR1 (First Hydrogen Allocation Round) for 11 electrolytic green hydrogen production projects totalling 125 MW: Barrow Green Hydrogen; Bradford Low Carbon Hydrogen; Cromarty Hydrogen; Green Hydrogen 3; HyBont; HyMarnhan; Langage Green Hydrogen; Tees Green Hydrogen; Trafford Green Hydrogen; West Wales Hydrogen; Whitelee Green Hydrogen. A second round, HAR2, could support some 875 MW of additional electrolyser capacity.
Transport options
For hydrogen production plans to be realised they have to be matched by the ability to transport hydrogen to its users. This could be done using hydrogen pipelines, following the example
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