Hydrogen on the horizon
- robball6
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Last month, a consortium of big hitters announced an ambitious plan to build green hydrogen production facilities all around the UK. Project Hyspeed – made up of Centrica, Heidelberg, ITM Power, JCB, Johnson Matthey and National Gas – wants to deliver 1GW of green hydrogen production capacity by 2030 which it says will attract £6.5bn of private investment.
This news came just a week after the Government released a shortlist of 27 hydrogen powered projects which could receive funding through its Second Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR2) which aims to deliver 875 MW collectively. HAR1, involving 11 projects with a total capacity of 125 MW, received the green light in December 2023 with an allocated £2bn of government funding.
And then there’s the Lower Thames Crossing. Finally given planning approval in March this year – although funding is still unclear – this project has pledged to use only electric and hydrogen construction plant and says that it will award a contract for a hydrogen production plant to supply the project later this year.
If the Lower Thames Crossing proves that hydrogen is viable for construction, there could be knock-on effects on other major infrastructure projects. Hyspeed certainly sees this happening: it is forecasting that 5,400 non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) – such as construction and agricultural plant and equipment – will be built as a result of its hydrogen production network.
Meanwhile, a project led by HyHAUL – a consortium of UK green hydrogen company Protium Green Solutions and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation – is looking to deploy a fleet of 30 HGVs on the M40 by 2026, scaling up to 300 by 2030. This will also see the creation of refuelling infrastructure, with the ultimate goal being to expand to cover the whole UK.
A question of weight
Although hydrogen vehicles use energy far less efficiently than electric ones, some think that hydrogen makes more sense than batteries for heavier vehicles such as HGVs, construction and agricultural plant. There are two main reasons: refuelling with hydrogen is far quicker – roughly 20 minutes versus 2 hours - than recharging and they weigh far less.
Weight, of course, is an important issue for roads and influences their longevity. While hydrogen vehicles will weigh a little more than their diesel counterparts, battery electric vehicles weigh significantly more.
For those transporting goods, switching to electric vehicles could mean that they can transport fewer goods per HGV to keep within weight restrictions on roads, which would mean they would need to run more HGVs. In fact, European HGV fleet operators are suggesting that weight restrictions on roads may need to be raised if operators are forced to switch to electric vehicles so that they don’t have to run more of them.
Whether HGVs get heavier, or operators have to run more of them, this all adds up to a greater pounding for roads. Which means more maintenance and potentially higher specifications for road surfaces and structures.
With hydrogen, there could be some negative impacts on highways networks too. Initially, some hydrogen will have to be moved around by road, until pipelines are established which could mean more wear and tear on roads. However, given that hydrogen HGVs and construction plant weigh less than electric ones, hydrogen seems like better news for our roads – and those managing them.
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