United Kingdom

Hydrogen trade is an emerging area of interest for hydrogen developers end-users traders and governments around the world. It can enhance system flexibility energy security and clean growth enabling decarbonisation at a lower cost and faster pace. Thanks to its competitive advantage in existing ports terminals and interconnectors the UK is well placed to be the European trade hub for hydrogen and its carriers. With its access to world leading offshore wind generation capacity and geological storage the UK will almost certainly be a net exporter of hydrogen in the future delivering economic value and creating jobs. However hydrogen trade will not be a one-way process. In order to best position the UK as a future hydrogen trade hub there could be value in investing in small scale hydrogen imports and exports to ‘wet the pipes’ and stimulate investment in infrastructure. Imports could also enhance our energy security as a part of a diverse energy mix and support demand whilst domestic production gets up to speed. Both imports and exports will be key to build supply chains and skills and enhance clean growth. With major European economies having established their hydrogen trade strategy there is growing uncertainty as to how the United Kingdom will capitalise on its competitive advantage and position itself in the global hydrogen market. This is the first qualitative report released by Hydrogen UK’s Import and Export Taskforce. This report aims to provide a high-level overview of Hydrogen UK’s vision and recommendations with subsequent reports exploring this topic in further detail.

This report can be found on Hydrogen UK's website.

CFD modelling of compressed hydrogen fuelling provides information on the hydrogen and tank structure temperature dynamics required for onboard storage tank design and fuelling protocol development. This study compares five turbulence models to develop a strategy for costeffective CFD simulations of hydrogen fuelling while maintaining a simulation accuracy acceptable for engineering analysis: RANS models k-ε and RSM; hybrid models SAS and DES; and LES model. Simulations were validated against the fuelling experiment of a Type IV 29 L tank available in the literature. For RANS with wall functions and blended models with near-wall treatment the simulated average hydrogen temperatures deviated from the experiment by 1–3% with CFL ≈ 1–3 and dimensionless wall distance y + ≈ 50–500 in the tank. To provide a similar simulation accuracy the LES modelling approach with near-wall treatment requires mesh with wall distance y + ≈ 2–10 and demonstrates the best-resolved flow field with larger velocity and temperature gradients. LES simulation on this mesh however implies a ca. 60 times longer CPU time compared to the RANS modelling approach and 9 times longer compared to the hybrid models due to the time step limit enforced by the CFL ≈ 1.0 criteria. In all cases the simulated pressure histories and inlet mass flow rates have a difference within 1% while the average heat fluxes and maximum hydrogen temperature show a difference within 10%. Compared to LES the k-ε model tends to underestimate and DES tends to overestimate the temperature gradient inside the tank. The results of RSM and SAS are close to those of LES albeit of 8–9 times faster simulations.

In recent years there has been a significant increase in the adoption of autonomous vehicles for marine and submarine missions. The advancement of emerging imaging navigation and communication technologies has greatly expanded the range of operational capabilities and opportunities available. The ENDURUNS project is a European research endeavor focused on identifying strategies for achieving minimal environmental impact. To measure these facts this article evaluates the product impacts employing the Life Cycle Assessment methodology for the first time following the ISO 14040 standard. In this analysis the quantitative values of Damage and Environmental Impact using the Eco-Indicator 99 methodology in SimaPro software are presented. The results report that the main contributors in environmental impact terms have been placed during the manufacturing phase. Thus one of the challenges is accomplished avoiding the use phase emissions that are the focus to reduce nowadays in the marine industry.

This study aims to carry out a techno-economic analysis of different hydrogen supply chain designs coupled with the Swedish electricity system to study the inter-dependencies between them. Both the hydrogen supply chain designs and the electricity system were parameterized with data for 2030. The supply chain designs comprehend centralised production decentralised production a combination of both and with/without seasonal variation in hydrogen demand. The supply chain design is modelled to minimize the overall cost while meeting the hydrogen demands. The outputs of the supply chain model include the hydrogen refuelling stations’ locations the electrolyser’s locations and their respective sizes as well as the operational schedule. The electricity system model shows that the average electricity prices in Sweden for zones SE1 SE2 SE3 and SE4 will be 4.28 1.88 8.21 and 8.19 €/MWh respectively. The electricity is mainly generated from wind and hydropower (around 42% each) followed by nuclear (14%) solar (2%) and then bio-energy (0.3%). In addition the hydrogen supply chain design that leads to a lower overall cost is the decentralised design with a cost of 1.48 and 1.68 €/kgH2 in scenarios without and with seasonal variation respectively. The seasonal variation in hydrogen demand increases the cost of hydrogen regardless of the supply chain design.

Hydrogen presents the UK with a substantial opportunity to drive economic growth and secure skilled jobs by leveraging our natural geological and geographical advantages robust supply chain and existing energy expertise. Hydrogen UK’s most recent Economic Impact Assessment estimates that the hydrogen sector in the UK could support approximately 30000 direct jobs and contribute more than £7 billion gross value added annually by 2030. On a global scale the hydrogen market is projected to be worth $2.5 trillion by 2050.

With international competition increasing the UK must act now to capitalise on this potential. These projections are supported by a recognition that hydrogen is one of the key solutions to decarbonising the UK economy complementing other low-carbon solutions such as electrification carbon capture biofuels and energy efficiency. Additionally hydrogen will play a vital role in enhancing the UK’s energy security by storing domestically produced energy to balance intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar. As a critical component of the clean energy transition hydrogen is indispensable to achieving net zero.

As it stands the UK is well placed to capitalise on the hydrogen opportunity and emerge as a global leader. We have made early strides in establishing a framework for hydrogen development with various pilot projects and strategic investments already underway. However the next five years will be critical for the sector as we move from strategy and planning to development and delivery. It is imperative to get the first lowcarbon production projects over the line and into construction as a matter of urgency and then deliver substantial infrastructure development regulatory clarity and sustained financial support to scale-up production and distribution. A new Government presents an opportunity for policymakers to solidify commitments and accelerate the deployment of hydrogen technology ensuring the UK remains competitive in the global race.

Our manifesto outlines policy recommendations for the new UK Government to take across production distribution and storage infrastructure end use applications trade and beyond which will support a thriving British industrial base that creates jobs and growth for British people. To achieve this the UK hydrogen industry calls on policymakers to speed up the deployment of hydrogen through the recommendations set out in this Manifesto.

This report can be found on Hydrogen UK's website.

A new model is presented to predict hydrogen-assisted fatigue. The model combines a phase field description of fracture and fatigue stress-assisted hydrogen diffusion and a toughness degradation formulation with cyclic and hydrogen contributions. Hydrogen-assisted fatigue crack growth predictions exhibit an excellent agreement with experiments over all the scenarios considered spanning multiple load ratios H2 pressures and loading frequencies. These are obtained without any calibration with hydrogen-assisted fatigue data taking as input only mechanical and hydrogen transport material properties the material’s fatigue characteristics (from a single test in air) and the sensitivity of fracture toughness to hydrogen content. Furthermore the model is used to determine: (i) what are suitable test loading frequencies to obtain conservative data and (ii) the underestimation made when not pre-charging samples. The model can handle both laboratory specimens and large-scale engineering components enabling the Virtual Testing paradigm in infrastructure exposed to hydrogen environments and cyclic loading.

Following a desktop study undertaken in 2021 to identify hazard scenarios associated with the use of liquid and compressed hydrogen on commercial shipping Shell has started a programme of large-scale experiments on the consequences of a release of liquid hydrogen. This work will compliment on-going research Shell has sponsored within several joint industry projects but will also address immediate concerns that the maritime industry has for the transportation of liquid hydrogen (LH2). This paper will describe the first phase of experiments involving the release of LH2 onto various substrates as well as dispersion across an instrumented test pad. These results will be used to address the following uncertainties in risk assessments within the hydrogen economy such as (1) Quantify the impact of low wind speed and high humidity on the buoyancy of both a passive and momentum jet dispersion cloud (2) Gather additional data on liquid hydrogen jet fires (3) Understand the likelihood for the formation of a sustained pool of hydrogen (4) Characterise materials especially passive fire protective coatings that are exposed to LH2. Not only will these experiments generate validation data to provide confidence in the Shell consequence tool FRED but they will also be used by Shell to support updates and new regulations developed by the International Maritime Organisation as it seeks to reduce CO2 intensity in the maritime industry.

This review article provides a comprehensive analysis of the hydrogen landscape outlining the imperative for enhanced hydrogen production implementation and utilisation. It places the question of how to accelerate hydrogen adoption within the broader context of sustainable energy transitions and international commitments to reduce carbon emissions. It discusses influencing factors and policies for best practices in hydrogen energy application. Through an in-depth exploration of key factors affecting hydrogen implementation this study provides insights into the complex interplay of both technical and logistical factors. It also discusses the challenges of planning constructing infrastructure and overcoming geographical constraints in the transition to hydrogen-based energy systems. The drive to achieve net-zero carbon emissions is contingent on accelerating clean hydrogen development with blue and green hydrogen poised to complement traditional fuels. Public–private partnerships are emerging as catalysts for the commercialisation of hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies fostering hydrogen demonstration projects worldwide. The anticipated integration of clean hydrogen into various sectors in the coming years signifies its importance as a complementary energy source although specific applications across industries remain undefined. The paper provides a good reference on the gradual integration of hydrogen into the energy landscape marking a significant step forward toward a cleaner greener future.

Accelerated decarbonisation of steelmaking oil refining and petrochemical industries is essential for climate change mitigation. Drawing on three longitudinal case studies of these industries in the UK this synthesis article makes a comparative analysis of their varying low-carbon reorientation speeds. The paper uses the triple embeddedness framework to analyse five factors (policy support international competition financial health technical feasibility corporate strategy and mindset) that explain why UK oil refineries have in recent years been comparatively the fastest in their low-carbon reorientation and UK steelmakers the slowest. We find that policy support has been more beneficial for refining and petrochemicals than for steel although recent government deals with steelmakers addressed this imbalance. International competition has been high for steel and petrochemicals and comparatively lower for refining (meaning that decarbonisation costs are less detrimental for international competitiveness). Financial performance has comparatively been worst for steel and best for oil refining which shapes the economic feasibility of low-carbon options. Hydrogen and carbon-capture-and-storage are technologically feasible for refining and petrochemicals while Electric Arc Furnaces are technically feasible for steelmakers but face wider feasibility problems (with scrap steel supply electricity grids and electricity prices) which is why we question the recent government deals. Corporate strategy and perceptions changed in oil refining with firms seeing economic opportunities in decarbonisation while steelmakers and petrochemical firms still mostly see decarbonisation as a burden and threat. The paper ends with comparative conclusions a discussion of political considerations and future outlooks for the three UK industries policy and research.

This study focuses on development of a CFD model able to simulate the experimentally observed critical nozzle diameter for hydrogen non-premixed flames. The critical diameter represents the minimum nozzle size through which a free jet flame will remain stable at all driving pressures. Hydrogen non-premixed flames will not blow-out at diameters equal to or greater than the critical diameter. Accurate simulation of this parameter is important for assessment of thermally activated pressure relief device (TPRD) performance during hydrogen blowdown from a storage tank. At TPRD diameters below the critical value there is potential for a hydrogen jet flame to blow-out as the storage tank vents potentially leading to hydrogen accumulation in an indoor release scenario. Previous experimental studies have indicated that the critical diameter for hydrogen is approximately 1 mm. In this study flame stability is considered across a range of diameters and overpressures from 0.1 mm to 2 mm and from 0.2 MPa to 20 MPa respectively. The impact of turbulent Schmidt number Sct which is the ratio of momentum diffusivity (kinematic viscosity) and mass diffusivity on the hydrogen concentration profile in the region near the nozzle exit and subsequent influence on critical diameter was investigated and discussed. For lower Sct values the enhanced mass mixing resulted in smaller predicted critical diameters. The use of value Sct=0.61 in the model demonstrated the best agreement with experimental values of the critical diameter. The model reproduced the critical diameter of 1 mm and then was applied to predict flame stability for under-expanded hydrogen jets.