SGN details their H100 Fife hydrogen network project
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The Government is looking to fuel the heating of an entire UK town with clean, green hydrogen fuel by the end of the century. The gas — which can be split out of water by electrolysis — can be used for cooking and heating and when burnt only produces water as a byproduct, rather than fossil fuels. Hydrogen could be piped into home in much the same way that conventional gas is at present. To this end, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy today invited British gas distribution network operators to begin proposing pilot projects for support that explore the potential of hydrogen heating systems on various scales — up to and including whole towns.
In the letter, BEIS Director of Clean Heat, David Capper, wrote: “Decarbonising heating is essential to delivering net zero. Heating in buildings accounts for over 20 percent of national carbon emissions.
“The Government believes that low carbon hydrogen could potentially be an important option for decarbonising heat in buildings.”
However, he continued: “Unlike other technologies — such as heat pumps and heat networks — 100 percent hydrogen for heat is not yet an established option.
“Further work is required to assess the feasibility, costs and benefits.”
The UK Government first outlined its interest in “driving the growth of low carbon hydrogen” as part of its “Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution”, published in late 2020.
As the then Secretary for State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma, put it “As the world looks to recover from the impact of coronavirus […] we have the chance to build back better — to invest in making the UK a global leader in green technologies.”
Other focuses of the plan include further developing the UK’s offshore wind capacity, delivering new and advanced forms of nuclear power, accelerating the shift to electric vehicles and investing in technologies for carbon capture, usage and storage.
On the hydrogen front, the Green Industrial Revolution plan set out a timeline which wanted to support industry to begin small-scale hydrogen heating trials in a local neighbourhood by 2023, followed by a large village-sized trial in 2025, and a town-sized pilot scheme by 2030.
Plans are already underway to make such hydrogen heating trial schemes a reality.
One such example is “H100 Fife” — a project, conducted between Fife Council and SGN (formerly Scotia Gas Networks), to deliver 100 percent hydrogen heating and gas for cooking to 300 homes in the Levenmouth area of Scotland’s eastern coastline.
The programme, which is expected to come online in 2024, will see piped into homes clean hydrogen gas produced at a dedicated electrolysis plant, which in turn will be powered by a nearby offshore wind turbine.
SGN will be constructing a demonstration home adjacent to the electrolysis plant, where visiting members of the public interested in joining the pilot can see various hydrogen powered boilers and cooking appliances in action before they sign up.
According to the Fife Council, hydrogen will be supplied to customers at the same rate as natural gas would have been.
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Fife Councillor Colin Davidson said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Levenmouth. We’re part of the world’s first trial of green hydrogen homes for heating, hot water and cooking.
“This puts Fife at the forefront of tackling climate change.”
His colleague and Environment and Climate Change spokesperson Jan Wincott added: “H100 Fife offers an opportunity for local people to adopt clean, green hydrogen technology.
“I am pleased that people in the trial area have another, more sustainable, choice about how to heat their homes.”
She concluded: “Hydrogen can heat homes in the same way as natural gas. Meaning minimal change for customers in how they use gas for heating or cooking.
“H100 brings to life the potential of this green gas for keeping homes warm, while minimising environmental impact.”
The full open letter — entitled “Hydrogen heating town pilot open Letter to Gas Distribution Networks” can be read on the BEIS website.
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