UK to Unveil Hydrogen Houses in April

The UK will in April have two semi-detached houses fitted with appliances fuelled entirely by hydrogen, said low-pressure pipeline operator and part-funder Cadent February 16. The funding for the model homes, which are not designed to be lived in, comes from the government’s Hy4Heat innovation programme, Cadent and Northern Gas Networks (NGN). NGN owns the site.

They will be built in Low Thornley and will show how hydrogen "has the potential to be used as a clean replacement to natural gas in the home." At the moment 86% of homes in the UK use gas to heat their homes, which is one of the highest proportion in Europe. Hydrogen burns with no by-products apart from water.

Energy minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “To tackle climate change, we need to find alternatives to fossil fuels and move towards making clean energy the norm. While these new houses in Gateshead will look like any other, they will showcase how low carbon hydrogen can transform the way we power our homes and offer a glimpse of what the future holds as we build back greener."

The project secured a £250,000 ($350,000) grant from the government’s Hy4Heat Innovation programme and is being run by gas company Cadent and NGN, who have both also input £250,000 of funding each.

The announcement comes ahead of government plans to publish its Hydrogen Strategy later this year, which will outline plans to build a UK hydrogen economy.

Prime minister Boris Johnson's Ten Point Plan also includes establishing a Hydrogen Neighbourhood, and the development of plans for a potential Hydrogen Town before the end of this decade.