SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS HYDROGEN: THE MISSING LINK? Is hydrogen the
missing link between renewable power and energy storage?
Victoria Mustard, decarbonisation strategy lead at
Xoserve, comments T
he recently passed Energy Act is one of the most significant pieces of energy legislation
of the past century. This introduced considerable changes, including points on regulating new energy activities – notably, the use of hydrogen. When it comes to domestic heating, the future
of hydrogen is still a topic of debate among policymakers and industry experts. So, in what other ways can hydrogen complement other renewable energy sources to accelerate the transition to Net Zero?
ADDRESSING A FUNDAMENTAL FLAW Renewables have a crucial role to play in every future energy scenario and, thanks to continuous advances, have achieved some record-breaking milestones in recent years. Britain’s weather, though inclement at times,
offers enough wind and solar power to support our energy demand. Despite this, Britain remains reliant on fossil fuels for heating and electricity generation. In fact, in the last 12 months, 36% of all power on the grid was methane-generated. To significantly reduce this percentage, there are still two critical challenges to overcome: grid connection delays, and a lack of storage capacity that prevents us from harnessing the true power of renewables. No matter which route we eventually take to Net
Zero, storage will likely play a significant role. Closing the energy demand gap currently filled by fossil fuels certainly won’t be possible without it.
STORING RENEWABLE ENERGY Renewable energy coupled with lithium battery storage could provide a solution. Unfortunately, the technology is costly to manufacture and not yet suitable for supporting the nation’s power grid. According to a Royal Society report, in 2050 Britain will need up to 100 TWh of electricity storage – almost 34,000 times more storage than the world’s largest online grid-scale battery could supply. With available space already
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scarce, even at a local level, where could these large-scale storage facilities be built? Meeting the demand for energy while achieving
Net Zero is a complex challenge that cannot be overcome with a single fuel. In this context, hydrogen technology offers viable support for low-carbon energy generation and storage. In fact, the Royal Society report also suggests future demand could be met by wind and solar supply supported by hydrogen, with a hydrogen storage capacity of around 60 to 100 TWh.
ESTABLISHING A HYDROGEN MARKET The UK Government is still considering hydrogen’s role in our future energy system, but its recent hydrogen blending consultation proposed moving forward with 20% hydrogen blending programmes to stimulate investment in hydrogen production and storage. In terms of Net Zero, green hydrogen would
be especially helpful, as it can be generated via electrolysis using surplus renewable energy to eliminate carbon emissions. But although green hydrogen is the most desirable fuel for sustainability reasons, there is an entire hydrogen generation ‘rainbow’ available. For example, blue hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced from methane and combined with carbon capture to provide another lower-carbon alternative to natural gas; while pink hydrogen can be generated from nuclear power. All this hydrogen can be used for ‘power-to-gas-
to-power’ generation, used to provide enough energy supply during still and cloudy days. While this is less efficient and more expensive than using renewable energy straight from the source, it is still worth considering for increasing resilience and reducing reliance on the grid. Another benefit of hydrogen is that it can be
stored for months using existing gas storage technology, and without losing power through discharge as batteries do. This makes it ideal for
ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS - Winter 2023
responding to peak demand and seasonal energy balancing, which are essential in all successful Net Zero scenarios, according to National Grid ESO Future Energy Scenarios.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Hydrogen has the potential to provide broader support as we transition to renewables, connecting the dots of other technologies to keep our grid balanced and strengthen the security of supply. But, hydrogen is just one potential energy solution to explore. For example, biomethane made from organic waste could also play a similar or complementary role in replacing natural gas. Regardless of the fuel source, it’s clear energy
storage will be essential for the UK to reach Net Zero, and ways to decarbonise gas must be considered alongside electrification. What the UK needs now are clear policy signals
about its future energy mix. Until we start to see firmer decisions and policies around hydrogen, biomethane and energy storage technologies, investment will be slow to materialise, commercial frameworks won’t evolve, and our infrastructure won’t be made ready. The UK has already lost its position as leader of the hydrogen index. It’s time to reaffirm our place at the forefront of renewables development and restore confidence in our ability to get green energy projects over the line. Without them, we’re setting ourselves up to fail.
Xoserve
www.xoserve.com
Victoria Mustard, decarbonisation strategy lead
www.essmag.co.uk
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