More funds pour into the UK hydrogen projects
Several funding announcements have been made public in the UK on Wednesday (17th March), H2Bulletin reports.
South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) deployment project is awarded around £20 million for its second phase, which involves conducting engineering studies to determine decarbonisation routes. The project will also study the demand and supply of hydrogen, carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) and CO2 shipping from South Wales. The project will investigate the feasibility of CO2 transport through a pipeline for temporary storage before shipping to a permanent location. The studies of the project are a 32-month programme. The project collaborators include Costain, Associated British Ports, Lanza Tech, Lightsource bp, Port of Milford Haven, Progressive Energy, RWE, Shell, SIMEC Atlantis Energy, Tata Steel, Tarmac and Valero Energy.
In a separate development, HyNet North West which is an industrial cluster region that stretches from Flintshire and Wrexham said to have secured £72 million consisted of £33 million from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge (IDC) fund, and £39 million of consortium partner contribution. HyNet is a consortium of Progressive Energy, Cadent, CF Fertilisers, Eni UK, Essar, Hanson, Inovyn and the University of Chester. It will decide on the final investment decision in 2023 for the initial phase before going operational in 2025. It will convert natural gas into low carbon hydrogen at Stanlow Refinery with CO2 captured and stored offshore in the Liverpool Bay gas fields. In addition, clean hydrogen will be shipped through a pipe network for the power industry, transportation, generating electricity and heating homes in the region.
Meanwhile, Tees Valley, home to the UK government-funded project, is to become the country first-ever hydrogen transport hub with £3 million government funding awarded. It will be fully operational by 2025 and conduct various trials involving shops, supermarkets, warehouse operators and delivery companies using hydrogen-powered transport.
