HyDeploy

The UK has a world-class natural gas grid delivering heat conveniently and safely to over 83% of homes. Carbon emissions can be reduced by lowering the carbon content of gas through blending with green hydrogen. HyDeploy is a groundbreaking £22.5 million Ofgem Network Innovation Competition project to establish the potential for blending up to 20% of green hydrogen into the normal gas supply to reduce CO2 emissions.

ITM Power supplied the electrolyser system at the heart of the first phase of the project, which was led by Cadent and Northern Gas Networks. This first phase was based at Keele University in Staffordshire, which was specifically chosen for being the largest university campus in the UK.

Keele has a private gas network, of which 100 homes and 30 university faculty buildings received the blended gas. The trial was designed to determine the level of hydrogen which could be used by gas consumers safely and with no changes to existing domestic appliances. The first phase successfully ended in March 2021 with robust evidence gathered across both the distribution network and end users to demonstrate the safe use of green hydrogen blends within existing infrastructure. 

The second phase, which ITM Power was not involved with, launched in August 2021 using bottled hydrogen for a larger demonstration on a public network in Winlaton, Gateshead. The project ran for almost twelve months and concluded in summer 2022. 

Heating homes and industry accounts for nearly half of all energy use in the UK and one third of the country’s carbon emissions. If a 20% hydrogen blend was rolled out across the country it could save around 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year – the equivalent of taking 2.5 million cars off the road. With the evidence to government policy makers submitted, we expect hydrogen to take its place alongside other forms of zero carbon energy in meeting the needs of the UK population.