The national hydrogen network

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58248/PN770

Hydrogen can be a low-carbon fuel. When it is burned, it releases energy without producing carbon dioxide. Hydrogen can either come from fossil fuel sources or produced using electricity and water. If the electricity used to produce hydrogen fuel comes from a renewable source (such as solar energy), the hydrogen can have low carbon emissions.

The government is aiming to increase UK production and usage of low-carbon hydrogen in some industries, and to support development of pipeline and storage infrastructure to enable transport and supply.

Low-carbon hydrogen

The Climate Change Committee says that low-carbon hydrogen has a small but important role in reducing UK carbon emissions, particularly in industrial applications that are hard to electrify, such as manufacturing and chemical production, and for some sustainable fuels and energy storage.

The previous government’s 2021 hydrogen strategy and subsequent announcements aim for there to be up to 10 GW (gigawatts) of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity in the UK by 2030. However, there are concerns that this will not be possible and that there will not be sufficient demand for this hydrogen. The current government intends to publish a renewed hydrogen strategy, with a more focused and essential role for hydrogen.

To date, the government’s support for low-carbon hydrogen focused on increasing production; so far around 2 GW of hydrogen production has been shortlisted or approved for government funding through the Hydrogen Production Business Model and cluster sequencing rounds.

Regional hydrogen pipelines

One way of transporting hydrogen around Great Britain is by using pipelines, such as are currently used for transporting natural gas. These could connect producers, storage and users, with network sizes ranging from local to regional and national.

Natural gas network operators are currently developing a range of regional pipeline networks, aimed at supporting new production sites and clusters.

The national hydrogen network

Regional pipeline networks would serve industrial clusters, but a national transmission-level network could link these regional networks. (In natural gas infrastructure, transmission refers to the ‘core’ infrastructure, which delivers large quantities of gas quickly over larger distances to a few places; distribution refers to the more extensive network delivering gas to end users.) A national hydrogen transmission-level network that linked these clusters could potentially improve the cost, security and availability of hydrogen supply, and expanding the locations for hydrogen production and use.

National Gas, a private company that owns and operates natural gas transmission infrastructure in the UK, is developing up to 2,500 km of a national hydrogen network across Great Britain, known as Project Union. Parts of the development involve repurposing existing natural gas infrastructure for hydrogen transport, and other parts involve building new dedicated infrastructure.

Project Union is Great Britain’s part of the wider European Hydrogen backbone project transmission network, which plans supply corridors delivering hydrogen to Central Europe. There are potential hydrogen import and export opportunities, but uncertainties remain over timelines, cost and demand, and there have been some delays and cancellations of hydrogen projects across Europe.

Funding mechanism

The government has committed over £500 million to support the development of the first regional hydrogen pipeline and storage network, but this funding has not yet been allocated. The date of the first allocation round of the Hydrogen Transport Business Model has been delayed and is currently unconfirmed. The government has previously said its aim is to support mature projects that connect multiple producers and users, alongside hydrogen storage projects, while demonstrating value for money.

Funding will focus initially on regional pipeline infrastructure. These are expected to be funded by government or through a levy on gas shippers. Some stakeholders and parliamentarians are concerned about the effect of such a levy on domestic energy bills, with thinktank research estimating that government’s hydrogen aims could increase energy bills by £118 a year.

Safety and feasibility studies

Although hydrogen and natural gas are both combustible gases, they have some different chemical properties, such as density and reactiveness with steel.

Industry-led trials by National Gas and the gas distribution network operators have examined the feasibility of repurposing pipelines to transport hydrogen. The results show that the existing network could be suitable for hydrogen transport with some additional safety recommendations for upgrades, improved leak detection, inspection and replacement of old distribution pipes. Some assets would require replacement, such as gas analysers, metering and compression systems.

Regulation

Hydrogen is within the scope of the Gas Act 1986, and this has regulatory implications for developing a new hydrogen market. There may be issues in balancing hydrogen supply and demand, and there are risks of placing unnecessary regulatory burdens on initial developers. The government has consulted on the economic regulatory framework for the initial hydrogen market.

Blending and domestic use

It may be possible to blend hydrogen into the existing natural gas network, to increase demand for hydrogen and support early producers. There are ongoing discussions and trials of whether this could be feasible.

Hydrogen could also be used for domestic home heating, but this would require greater expansion of the hydrogen network along distribution pipelines and would likely increase energy bills. The Climate Change Committee recommend that the government should rule out the prospect of 100% hydrogen for heating, in favour of heat pumps to prevent uncertainty in infrastructure development.