HYDROGEN INDUSTRY
MIND THE GAP: LESSONS FROM THE WORLD’S SUBWAY SYSTEMS FOR THE UK’S HYDROGEN FUTURE
According to Andy Sloan, managing director, COWI in the UK, the next few years could cement the UK as a shining beacon for hydrogen and energy storage. However, a lot of the positive progress that has been made since the publication of the UK Hydrogen Strategy in 2021 is now at risk...
any of the world’s first subway systems were categorised by a series of independent ventures that operated in competition with each other. For 40 years the London Underground was operated by two separate companies before they joined together under one brand and one vision. Meanwhile in New York, the city’s elevated and subway lines operated in competition to one another for around 70 years before a single entity took over and the difficult process of integration began. Tokyo has always had two separate subway systems – one operated privately, and another by the government. This somewhat disjointed evolution to city subway systems has, in many places, led to highly complex networks featuring different station and line designs, and rolling stock which creates ongoing challenges for renovation, extension and integration. To this day, division A and B of the New York metro cannot be integrated due to the difference in tunnel design and consequently the different size rolling stock that can be used. The famous phrase ‘Mind the gap’, which can be heard in subways and railway stations everywhere from Helsinki to Hong Kong, exists because of varying design choices. A mixture of platform heights, station designs and rolling stock has led to gaps several inches across and several inches high on numerous platforms around the world. It’s an unfortunate design relic that will continue to create access challenges for the less mobile well into the future.
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MINDING THE HYDROGEN GAP As the energy industry sets out to achieve the ambitious target of 10 GW of low carbon hydrogen production across the economy by 2030, we too must Mind the gap. While the UK has an impressive rollcall of pilot projects, a gap remains between strategy and progress on the ground. Without a guiding light that brings the two together, there is a risk of wrong turns ahead. More worrying still, a lot of the positive progress than has been made since the publication of the UK Hydrogen Strategy in 2021 is now at risk, with the latest Contracts for Difference round failing to secure any new offshore wind. Without a flourishing offshore wind sector, the road to achieving 10GW of low carbon hydrogen will be long, arduous, and more carbon intensive than optimum.
10 And the potential impact of this does not
just stop at hydrogen. Indeed, we are not just building hydrogen for hydrogen’s sake. Any blip in the hydrogen success story could have far reaching-implications for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries including shipping, aviation and construction. It also risks the UK being left behind by its peers, particularly those close to home in Europe. Of course, let’s not forget the wider economic and employment related benefits hydrogen stands to make. This is not for a lack of appetite. The potential
impact of hydrogen on jobs and the economy is well appreciated, and the industry is eager to get on. The next few years could cement the UK as a shining beacon for hydrogen and energy storage.
CLOSING THE HYDROGEN GAP What we need is a consistent framework that catalyses action by creating the right environment to unlock finance for the sector. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, for example, has gone from strength to strength. This is the kind of initiative that we need in the UK – not just for hydrogen but for more mature technologies such as offshore wind, and re-emerging technologies such as pumped storage. In the same sense, having a detailed plan for how hydrogen projects and hubs will interconnect is also another key to success. Indeed, Project Union has identified that a whole system approach to energy infrastructure development – specifically hydrogen and electricity transmission – that could save Britain £38 billion by 2050. But while feasibility and pre-FEED work is already underway to deliver a plan for a ‘first of a kind’ hydrogen transmission backbone for the UK, the final plan is a year or two off. With just seven years to take the UK’s hydrogen production from near zero to 10GW, we can’t
wait until all the lines on the map are all drawn. Industry must forge ahead without knowing some of the details, scaling up electrolysis technologies to be commercially competitive and proving the hydrogen concept through smaller pilot projects across transport hubs, industrial clusters and domestic hydrogen. Developing large scale electrolysis, and
becoming a first mover on the technology, represents a significant opportunity for the UK. Collaboration will be key; sharing technology, best practice and learnings so that they can be widely applied while also supporting research and development. If we do our best to put competition to one side, we can actively move from minding the gap, to closing it. The Port of Esbjerg’s approach to hydrogen production is an excellent example of what is possible. Leveraging its strategic position as Europe’s biggest offshore wind port, it will produce green hydrogen to decarbonise shipping and heavy industry, and a heat network will provide decarbonised heat to local homes. Plans are also afoot to export green hydrogen further afield via rail.
INTO THE FUTURE The next few years are critical to the future of the UK’s hydrogen economy. Both the government and developers have a role to play in closing the current gap that exists between the strategic vision for hydrogen and the commercialisation of the technology. The quicker the gap can be addressed, the more likely it is that individual projects and hubs will be able to successfully integrate into the future hydrogen economy.
COWI
www.cowi.com
“With just seven years to take the UK’s hydrogen
production from near zero to 10GW, we can’t wait until all the lines on the map are all drawn. Industry must forge ahead without knowing some of the details,
scaling up electrolysis technologies to be commercially competitive and proving the hydrogen concept through smaller pilot projects across transport hubs, industrial clusters and domestic hydrogen”
ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS - Summer 2024
Andy Sloan
www.essmag.co.uk
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