Hydrogen Milestone: UK’s First Hydrogen-to-Power Trial At Brigg Energy Park
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
Centrica and HiiROC, supported by the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC), have successfully demonstrated the injection of hydrogen into a gas-fired peak power plant at Centrica’s Brigg Energy Park, North Lincolnshire. The trial that took place last Thursday (11 September) marks a UK first in using hydrogen to decarbonise peak power generation supplying power directly to the electricity grid.
These three opening paragraphs add detail.
HiiROC’s modular hydrogen production technology, using Thermal Plasma Electrolysis (TPE), produced hydrogen on site which was then blended at a 3% ratio for the purposes of a one-hour trial.
The trial marks a further step forward in Centrica’s ongoing efforts to advance innovative solutions for the decarbonisation of its portfolio of gas plants, demonstrating that existing gas infrastructure can operate on a hydrogen blend to provide reliable, low carbon electricity to UK homes and businesses. More broadly, the trial shows a viable route for delivering on decarbonisation readiness obligations for peaker generation as part of the UK’s journey to net zero.
It is also a key milestone in HiiROC’s journey, demonstrating the effectiveness and affordability of HiiROC’s TPE process, which produces hydrogen without CO2 emissions, making it compliant with the UK’s Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard (LCHS). By leveraging the existing gas network and co-locating hydrogen production where it is needed, operators can decarbonise without costly new infrastructure.
Note.
- This test was only at a low level of hydrogen.
- Brigg power station is a 240 MW power station, which is fuelled by natural gas.
A long journey starts with a single step.
The Anonymous Widower 
Interesting never considered that option and Im not sure how that combo would be considered by the govt for the capacity mkt as its clearly not unabated gas but it should have a place as we need to retain the CCGTs for standby for sometime yet.
The gas turbines here are 30+ yr old technology here so wouldn’t have been considered for this sort of fuel mix and I guess there are some downsides to running with hydrogen (runs hotter?). So hope these are the start of more comprehensive tests to see what the impact is.
Comment by Nicholas Lewis | September 16, 2025 |
The big things about HiiROC appear to be.
It can use any hydrocarbon gas as source.
The bi-product of carbon-black has uses.
The system is scalable.
Is is five times more affordable than electrolysis.
I shared an office with a guy at ICI in the 1960s, who was working on a similar idea to create acetylene. It was rather a nightmare to control.
But I notice HiiROC have brought in Siemens to control the process.
Comment by AnonW | September 16, 2025 |
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