Renewables outfit Dulas has been awarded Welsh Government funding to explore the feasibility of hydrogen production in Wales using renewable energy sources.
HyFEAS will include examining the available technologies and assessing the technical and commercial feasibility of hydrogen production at Welsh Water’s Llyn Celyn hydro power plant and at a wind farm.
The HyFEAS project is expected to take four months and Dulas hopes to use the results to progress to a full system design and planning stage.
Dulas commercial lead for consulting Andy Skipton Carter said: “Research into green hydrogen production and defining affordable, sustainable systems that will work with renewable energy locally and at scale is ground-breaking stuff and we are excited to have started on this project.
“We’ll be building on our existing skills and learning new ones so that we can continue to offer our clients pioneering, effective renewable solutions that will help combat climate change and support local energy security.”
A number of renewable energy power plants are already operational in Wales and many more are planned.
All of these are able to produce very competitively priced electricity, which immediately makes the prospect of producing hydrogen more affordable, Dulas stated.
If locally produced hydrogen were available, hauliers, train operators and construction companies could easily deploy hydrogen powered trucks, trains and equipment in Wales.
The Welsh Government also hopes that by developing the hydrogen energy sector, Wales will attract the new zero emission automotive industries which would lead to jobs and further investment.
Dulas stated: “Realising the potential of hydrogen could be an exciting and transformative opportunity for Wales.”