The boss of the newly established North East base of hydrogen creator Lhyfe says the firm is focussed on delivering benefit to the region.
Colin Brown, who was chosen by the French firm to launch its UK arm following a €110m IPO on the Euronext Paris exchange, told Business Live the business is looking at a number of earmarked sites in the North East for a future green hydrogen production plant. And he hopes to grow a team of 10 out of Lhyfe’s Newcastle base by the first quarter of next year.
Armed with the capital to set up green hydrogen projects - seen as an alternative energy source for industry and transport - the firm will then seek operational support through the Contracts for Difference scheme in much the same way wind farm operators have done.
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Mr Brown said: “The ambition is to grow the business out of the North East. We’re here and the opportunity is great for hydrogen, and for me, I really believe in it. There’s obviously lots going on down in Teesside and there’s lots of focus on that but actually there are also some good opportunities north of Teesside.”
Mr Brown says Lhyfe wants to set up a project in the North East that will allow the region to see value in green hydrogen production. He hopes that such an initial project - or multiple projects - will deliver economies of scale for many users, not just individual companies.
Green hydrogen is seen as a replacement for natural gas and can be used in existing gas networks, and is also a replacement for oil-derived fuels such as petrol and diesel, as well as aviation and marine fuel. It is made using an electrolyser that splits the hydrogen and oxygen in water.
The process requires a substantial amount of energy and Lhyfe has already developed the world’s first offshore electrolysis demonstrator - ‘Sealhyfe’ - in a bid to reach gigawatt scale production powered by wind farms and to “de-risk” the technology for likely investors.
Though nascent, the firm is working on the assumption that green hydrogen demand will emerge - particularly in the transport sector. Some process industries already use hydrogen - hence the work of bp on Teesside - and for other energy intensive manufacturers, it could be a sustainable alternative where electrification is not possible.
Mr Brown explained: “Where hydrogen differs maybe to batteries - which is where there has been a lot of focus over the last decade - is that it gives you longevity and it’s convenient.”
He added: “If you need to run a car for 24 hours a day, that’s reliable and you don’t need to stop to recharge, then batteries aren’t going to cut it - so you need to find an alternative. Hydrogen offers the convenience that petrol and diesel offers now. If you pull into a pump, it takes about three minutes to fuel your Toyota Mirai [a hydrogen powered model] and you get about 500 miles out of it.”
Lhyfe will deliver its hydrogen to customers via road deliveries. And there are hopes that fuelling forecourts could be opened on the A19 and A1 in partnership with another operator.
Mr Brown added: “The next step beyond Sealhyfe is to scale it up and to scale it up to a more commercial opportunity. Get it deployed and help de-risk the technology that then makes it more bankable and attractive to investors.” He added: “For me, I’d love to see that happening in the UK. We’ve got such a strong offshore wind resource and portfolio in the UK, and we’ve got a massive 28 gigawatts of offshore wind being developed in Scotland and that just can’t be grid connected - it’s too big. We need to find alternative routes to market, and green hydrogen offers that route to market.”
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