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The report by trade organisation RenewableUK, Green hydrogen: Optimising net zero, makes nine recommendations to ensure the government achieves its target of 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030, including at least 5GW from green hydrogen.
“This will boost the UK’s energy security by replacing expensive imported gas with a clean homegrown energy source, and allow us to make the most of the vast quantities of electricity we are generating from renewables,” a RenewableUK announcement said.
Green hydrogen can be produced by electrolysers, which split water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity generated by renewables. This can help provide flexibility to the grid. In the longer term, green hydrogen can be stored underground in vast quantities to help manage fluctuations in energy demand on a seasonal basis, instead of using fossil fuels. It can also be used as a replacement for fossil fuels in heavy duty transport, and in a wide variety of other sectors, such as aviation, shipping and energy-intensive industries.
A UK-wide green hydrogen economy could create thousands of highly skilled jobs, RenewableUK said. “This will provide us with opportunities to become an exporter of green hydrogen, especially to mainland Europe. We are already capitalising on this opportunity – ITM Power has established the world’s first electrolyser gigafactory in Sheffield and has sold electrolysers to the world’s largest hydrogen plant in Germany.”
The policy recommendations for government include setting out a detailed roadmap showing how 5GW of green hydrogen capacity can be secured by 2030, including a supportive planning regime that would enable electrolysers to be built alongside wind farms.
The trade organisation also called for the introduction of a standard that specifically promotes green hydrogen as a zero-carbon fuel, an increase in funding, and simpler rules to enable quicker building work.
“We want to work with ministers to develop a UK-based green hydrogen supply chain, manufacturing electrolysers and compressors, so that we can reap the economic and industrial benefits of this technology rather than allowing other countries to do so,” the announcement said.
The report was written by RenewableUK’s emerging technologies policy analyst Laurie Heyworth, who said: “If ever there was a time to step up our efforts to replace expensive gas with a clean, flexible fuel which fulfils the same role but uses cheap renewables instead, it’s right now. This report explains how we can start to switch from an over-priced fossil fuel from abroad to a new homegrown zero-carbon source of power by building at least 5GW of green hydrogen capacity by 2030.
“Expanding our capacity to produce green hydrogen will enable us to make full use of the enormous amounts of clean power we’re producing from renewables. This could help consumers as well as boosting the UK’s energy security, because making hydrogen using renewables is set to become cheaper than using fossil fuels, which are prone to volatility and global price shocks. This will allow us to take huge strides forward on decarbonisation and move closer towards energy independence over the course of this decade.”
The publication of the report coincides with RenewableUK’s Green Hydrogen 2022 event, taking place today (5 May) at ITM Power’s Gigafactory in Sheffield.
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