The UK government and devolved administrations need to reform planning rules to enable green hydrogen projects to be built swiftly around the country, according to a new RenewableUK report.
The UK has set a target of installing 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, half of which will be green hydrogen generated by renewables, including wind.
To meet this target, the amount of green hydrogen produced would have to be about 100 times bigger than it is now, according to the report.
Several small-scale green hydrogen plants are already operating in the UK, and a number of larger projects are in planning or have consent to go ahead.
But the report Planning for Onshore Green Hydrogen warns that the current planning regime is too slow, complex and difficult to navigate for developers to build projects at the scale and speed needed.
It identifies major sticking points and puts forward multiple recommendations to overcome these.
The document also offers a go-to guide for developers hoping to navigate the current planning system.
Unlike other renewable technologies, there is limited national planning guidance specific to green hydrogen across the UK, so local planning authorities and national governments have a very limited framework to provide guidance.
Also, it is unclear whether a green hydrogen project built alongside large wind or solar farms to make use of their clean power can be included in the same planning application as an integral part of the site, or whether they need a separate planning application under a separate regime.
The report recommends updating guidance to include green hydrogen, taking due account of the target set by government.
It also argues that there is a need to explain to decision makers how this innovative technology works, as it is not yet widely understood and the knowledge gap is hampering progress.
Green hydrogen is generated by electrolysis; splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen using an electrolyser.
The report highlights the need to ensure that water used for green hydrogen production is managed sustainably.
It suggests that government and industry should work together to devise a strategic approach involving the use of water sources (e.g. waste water and sea water) in hydrogen production to minimise any impact on water supplies, which are dwindling in some parts of the UK.
The report also states that the Health and Safety Executive and environmental regulators are at present unable to process the pipeline of green hydrogen projects fast enough, as they have insufficient resources.
It notes that they also have limited guidance on how to deal with this innovative technology, and that they have no remit to deliver net zero.
This could be addressed by ensuring they have access to adequate funding, as well as updating guidance for the HSE and environmental agencies, including a net zero mandate, RenewableUK recommends.
RenewableUK’s senior policy analyst for emerging technologies Laurie Heyworth said: “Green hydrogen is a game-changing technology which has vital role to play in the UK’s transition to net zero, as it’s a flexible clean power source which can be used across an extraordinarily wide range of sectors, and it can be stored so that we can use it whenever we need it, adding vital security and flexibility to our modern energy system.
“But at the moment there’s a policy vacuum in the planning system which makes limited reference to this cutting-edge technology.
“So we need to see planning guidance overhauled to enable new projects to go ahead as swiftly as possible to build a new industry and help us to meet our climate change goals.
“This report sets out in detail the changes which we need to make this happen as a matter of urgency.”