The UK government should set out a detailed roadmap showing how 5GW of green hydrogen capacity can be secured by 2030, including a supportive planning regime that would enable electrolysers to be built alongside wind farms, according to RenewableUK.
RUK also urged UK Ministers to exempt electrolysers from some charges for access to the grid in its new report ‘Green Hydrogen: Optimising Net Zero’.
The trade group called for the introduction of a standard which specifically promotes green hydrogen as a zero-carbon fuel, making it clear that other types of low-carbon hydrogen do not have this pedigree.
It also saod BEIS should ensure that all types of green hydrogen projects, big or small, can receive support under the Hydrogen Business Model, which is similar to Contracts for Difference for other renewables.
Barriers in the planning system also need to be addressed, by introducing more funding and clearer and simpler rules nationwide which will allow us to build large green hydrogen projects faster, the report states.
The same applies to the regulatory system, which does not yet take account of the over-riding need to reach net zero as fast as possible, it added.
RUK said it wants to work with Ministers to develop a UK-based green hydrogen supply chain, manufacturing electrolysers and compressors, so that the UK can reap the economic and industrial benefits of this technology rather than allowing other countries to do so.
The UK needs large-scale green hydrogen storage facilities for the future, making use of former gas storage facilities and salt caverns, and good interconnections with the European hydrogen network so that it can export clean gas, according to the report.
RUK emerging technologies policy analyst Laurie Heyworth, who wrote the report, said: “If ever there was a time to step up our efforts to replace expensive gas with a clean, flexible fuel which fulfills the same role but uses cheap renewables instead, it’s right now.
“This report explains how we can start to switch from an over-priced fossil fuel from abroad to a new home-grown zero carbon source of power by building at least 5GW of green hydrogen capacity by 2030.
“Expanding our capacity to produce green hydrogen will enable us to make full use of the enormous amounts of clean power we’re producing from renewables.
“This could help consumers as well as boosting the UK’s energy security, because making hydrogen using renewables is set to become cheaper than using fossil fuels which are prone to volatility and global price shocks.
“This will allow us to take huge strides forward on decarbonisation and move closer towards energy independence over the course of this decade.”
The recommendations aim to help the UK government achieve its target of 10GW of low carbon hydrogen by 2030, including at least 5GW from green hydrogen production.