Monday, March 18, 2024

Lhyfe and Centrica to develop offshore renewable green hydrogen in the UK

Energy companies Lhyfe and Centrica have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop offshore renewable green hydrogen in the UK in a first for the country.

Under the agreement, the companies will explore combining their expertise to collaborate on a pilot green hydrogen production site in the Southern North Sea.

The pilot aims to combine Lhyfe’s expertise in green hydrogen production and Centrica’s experience in gas storage and infrastructure to ensure that the hydrogen produced can be safely stored and utilized in the UK. The end result would be proof that an end-to-end hydrogen production, storage, and distribution system is possible in the country.

In addition, both firms will also examine an additional partnership to deploy the technology at a commercial scale alongside offshore wind electricity production.

Renewable green hydrogen coupled with offshore wind power is expected to play an increasingly important role in the UK’s energy mix, particularly with rapid expansion expected in both of these areas over the next 5-10 years.

“Hydrogen is going to play a key role in decarbonizing the UK’s power supply by 2035, and our long-term ambition is for Rough, our gas storage site, to be the world’s largest hydrogen store, offering up to 16TWh of storage capacity. This pilot will show how green hydrogen can be produced, moved, and stored in the UK market, all while supporting the UK on its net zero journeys,” said Martin Scargill, Managing Director of Centrica Storage.

2030, the UK government has doubled its low-carbon hydrogen production target from 5GW to 10GW by 2030, with at least half of this coming from green hydrogen. Hydrogen production is expected to initially support the decarbonization of industrial clusters, like the Humber cluster, with further use cases developing with a growing hydrogen economy.