UK University Starts Hydrogen Injection

The UK's first test of the feasibility of injecting zero carbon hydrogen into a low-pressure gas network, HyDeploy, is now fully operational, said the companies involved January 2. Keele University grid has been carrying a mix of methane and hydrogen (80-20 by volume), feeding 100 homes and 30 faculty buildings.

The 20% hydrogen blend is the highest in Europe, together with a similar project being run by Engie in northern France. The limit is 23% before appliances will need adjusting, project leader and UK distribution grid operator Cadent told NGW, explaining that the network's loss of calorific value even at 20% is insignificant.

Backed by British energy regulator Ofgem's Network Innovation Competition, Cadent is working on the £7 ($9.2)mn project with Northern Gas Networks, Keele University, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Science Division, integrated hydrogen energy systems manufacturer ITM-Power, and independent clean energy company Progressive Energy.

Heating for domestic properties and industry accounts for half of the UK's energy consumption and one third of its carbon emissions, with 83% of homes using gas to keep warm. If a 20% hydrogen blend was rolled out across the country it could save around 6mn metric tons/yr of carbon dioxide emissions.

Cadent said hydrogen can help tackle one of the most difficult sources of carbon emissions – heat. This trial could pave the way for a wider roll out of hydrogen blending, enabling consumers to cut carbon emissions without changing anything that they do.

Keele University said: "Sustainability and low carbon energy is a key overarching institutional priority for Keele University, and we are delighted to be a key partner in HyDeploy."

The hydrogen is produced by an electrolyser, produced by ITM Power. It uses an electrical current to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. In 2018 the HSE granted the HyDeploy consortium an exemption to the current limit of 0.1% hydrogen in the UK gas network. The exemption to 20% hydrogen for the project at Keele was awarded after the project gathered extensive evidence, which was scrutinised by the HSE, to demonstrate the hydrogen blend would be 'as safe as natural gas'. A similar approach was used to allow the first bio-methane producers to inject biogas into the natural gas network.

Keele owns and operates its own private gas network, which can be safely isolated from the wider UK gas network.  Across Europe, permitted levels of hydrogen in the gas supply vary, from 0.1% in the UK to up to 12% in parts of the Netherlands.