Lhyfe And Centrica To Develop Offshore Renewable Green Hydrogen In The UK
The title of his post is the same as that of this news item from Centrica.
These are the bullet points.
- Memorandum of Understanding will pave the way for green hydrogen pilot production site at sea
- Energy firms explore large scale partnership in drive to net zero
- Aim for UK to become a global leader in the hydrogen sector
This is the third paragraph, that outlines the objectives of the project.
The pilot will aim to combine Lhyfe’s expertise on green hydrogen production and Centrica’s experience of gas storage and infrastructure to ensure that the hydrogen produced can be safely stored and utilised 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.
I have a couple of thoughts.
Offshore Production Of Hydrogen
I remember from the 1960s, when I told friends and my mother, that I worked in a hydrogen factory, some of them asked if it was dangerous.
The Hindenburg and the R 101 had a lot to answer for even forty years later.
But does that fear of hydrogen still exist? If it does, surely building hydrogen electrolysers offshore could be a way of reducing that fear?
There are also other reasons to produce hydrogen offshore.
- The latest electrolysers will work with sea water, which means the water doesn’t need to be desalinated first.
- The hydrogen can be brought ashore and stored using redundant gas infrastructure.
- Using redundant gas infrastructure may be a more affordable way of bringing energy onshore.
- A severe hydrogen leak may be much less dangerous 50 km. offshore. It will quickly disperse and rise into the atmosphere.
The accountants will probably decide.
Do Centrica Have Big Ambitions For Hydrogen?
This is said about Centrica in the news item.
- Centrica is a leading international services and solutions company with ambitious plans across the business to reach net zero by 2045. Centrica have identified hydrogen as playing an essential part in company and UK targets to achieve net zero.
- Centrica Storage are a 100% owned subsidiary of Centrica and own and operate the Rough gas field storage facility, located off the coast of Humberside.
- Centrica has a long-term ambition to turn Rough into the world’s largest hydrogen storage facility in Europe.
Centrica appear to have big ambitions for hydrogen.
Centrica Announces Hydrogen Ready Combined Heat And Power Partnership With 2G
The title if this post is the same as that of this press release from centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
Centrica Business Solutions is partnering with 2G Energy AG to provide customers with 100% hydrogen ready Combined and Heat Power (CHP) systems.
This paragraph outlines the project.
The move is in response to the growing need for integrated hydrogen solutions which are a key tool in the decarbonisation of decentralised energy. As the hydrogen network develops, the highly efficient units can continue to run on traditional fuel sources, helping future proof investments by ensuring an extended life for the assets.
It does appear that the 2G units can run on biogas or natural gas and switch to hydrogen, when it is available.
2G Energy have a web site, with lots of case studies.
Centrica And Ryze Agree To Develop Hydrogen Pathway
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Centrica and Ryze Hydrogen are set to jointly build and operate hydrogen production facilities aimed at providing a reliable supply of hydrogen for industry and transportation.
Under the landmark agreement the firms will jointly develop hydrogen production projects on existing Centrica sites and work with third-parties to build production on their sites too.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed and will combine expertise in order to kickstart the development of the UK hydrogen economy, targeting the mobility, industrial and commercial markets.
There are also some other interesting statements in the press release.
- Centrica’s Head of Hydrogen, says that we should be bold in our thinking about hydrogen.
- The partnership will explore how the UK can work with international hydrogen production facilities.
- Jo Bamford, green entrepreneur and Executive Chairman of Ryze, believes that Centrica are very serious about hydrogen.
- Centrica and Ryse will convert some of the British Gas fleet to hydrogen.
I feel this could be a very significant deal for the decarbonisation of the UK.
Centrica Partners With Hull-Based HiiRoc For Hydrogen Fuel Switch Trial At Humber Power Plant
The title of this post, is the same as that on this article on Business Live.
This is a paragraph.
It comes as the owner of British Gas has also increased its shareholding in the three-year-old business to five per cent. Last November it was one of several investors to pump £28 million into HiiRoc alongside Melrose Industries, HydrogenOne, Cemex, Hyundai and Kia, who joined existing strategic investors Wintershall Dea and VNG.
This could be sensational.
The reason I said that was that I used to share an office at ICI Mond Division, with Peter, who was putting instruments on a plant called the Badische. It was a new process to create acetylene. If I remember correctly, the process was as follows.
Ethylene was burned and then quenched in naptha.
The trouble was that the process produced a lot of carbon, which clogged the burners, and masses of black smoke, which upset everybody in Runcorn, especially on washing day!
Someone was worried that the plant might go into explosive limits, so Peter had devised a clever infra-red instrument to read the composition of the off-gas from the burner. It was found to be in explosive limits and ICI shut it down. BASF said ICI were wrong and there was no way to measure the composition of the off-gas anyway. A few months later BASF’s plant exploded and buried itself in a hillside in Southern Germany. Upon hearing this news, ICI shut the Badische for ever. ICI were annoyed in that they had to spend £200,000 on a flameless cutter to dismantle the plant.
I do wonder, if HiiROC have tamed BASF’s beast to do something useful, like produce hydrogen and carbon black!
Centrica Re-Opens Rough Storage Facility
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
It has this sub-heading.
Rough Operational For Winter And Increases UK’s Storage Capacity By 50%.
On the face of it, this sounds like good news and these two paragraphs give more details.
Centrica has announced the reopening of the Rough gas storage facility, having completed significant engineering upgrades over the summer and commissioning over early autumn.
The initial investment programme means the company has made its first injection of gas into the site in over 5 years and is in a position to store up to 30 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas for UK homes and businesses over winter 2022/23, boosting the UK’s energy resilience.
Note.
- The Rough gas storage facility has been able to hold up to 100 billion cubic feet of gas in the past.
- Rough is a complex field with two platforms and thirty wells transferring gas to and from the facility.
- Additionally, there is an onshore gas-processing terminal at the Easington Gas Terminal, where it connects to the UK gas network.
It appears to be a comprehensive gas storage facility, that should get us through the 2022/3 winter.
These two paragraphs from the press release, which are the thoughts of the Centrica Chief Executive are significant.
Centrica Group Chief Executive, Chris O’Shea, said “I’m delighted that we have managed to return Rough to storage operations for this winter following a substantial investment in engineering modifications. Our long-term aim remains to turn the Rough field into the world’s biggest methane and hydrogen storage facility, bolstering the UK’s energy security, delivering a net zero electricity system by 2035, decarbonising the UK’s industrial clusters, such as the Humber region by 2040, and helping the UK economy by returning to being a net exporter of energy.
“In the short term we think Rough can help our energy system by storing natural gas when there is a surplus and producing this gas when the country needs it during cold snaps and peak demand. Rough is not a silver bullet for energy security, but it is a key part of a range of steps which can be taken to help the UK this winter.”
Note.
- Effectively, in the short term, Rough is a store for gas to help us through the winter.
- In the long-term, Rough will be turned into the world’s largest gas storage facility.
- It will be able to store both methane (natural gas) and hydrogen.
Having worked with project managers on complex oil and gas platforms and chemical plants, I wouldn’t be surprised to find, that when the design of this facility is released, it will be something special.
Centrica certainly seem to have upgraded Rough to be able to play a significant short term role this winter and they also seem to have developed a plan to give it a significant long-term role in the storage of hydrogen.
Aldbrough Gas Storage
A few miles up the coast is SSE’s and Equinor’s Aldbrough Gas Storage, which is being developed in salt caverns to hold natural gas and hydrogen.
Blending Of Hydrogen And Natural Gas
I believe that we’ll see a lot of blending of hydrogen and natural gas.
- Up to 20 % of hydrogen can be blended, without the need to change appliances, boilers and processes.
- This cuts carbon dioxide emissions.
I wrote about this in a post called HyDeploy.
It might be convenient to store hydrogen in Aldbrough and natural gas in Rough, so that customers could have the blend of gas they needed.
With two large gas stores for hydrogen under development, the HumberZero cluster is on its way.
Conn By Name, Con Artist By Nature
I have just seen the Chief Executive of Centrica; Ian Conn, giving the most unfeasible explanation, why despite the fact that electricity prices are going down, British Gas will be putting them up by 12.5% from September 11th.
This article on the BBC gives more details.
Now is the time to give British Gas a good kicking by moving to an alternative smaller supplier.
I moved to OVO over two years ago and have had no trouble except.
- Changing from my old Bog Six supplier was a pain, due to the original company’s incompetence. Was that real or deliberate?
- OVO have still not fitted me with a smart meter. But I’m not sure I need one!
OVO have also handled my solar panels without trouble.
The Anonymous Widower 