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COMMUNITY-SCALE HYDROGEN PRODUCTION PROJECT SET TO BEGIN IN SOUTH WALES
Costain has been awarded funding by the Welsh Government ’ s Smart Living HyBRID SBRI initiative to undertake a project which looks at the feasibility of small scale hydrogen production in South Wales . HyBRID ( Hydrogen Business Research & Innovation for Decarbonisation ) is a Small Business Research Initiative ( SBRI ) funded by Welsh Government Smart Living .
The feasibility project seeks to investigate increasing the availability of hydrogen through a series of communitybased production facilities , using a range of feedstocks linked to local sourcing and renewables . This will promote visibility and confidence in hydrogen , encouraging customers to invest in cleaner infrastructure .
It will do so using existing hydrogen production technology at community-scale , rather than as regional or national infrastructure . It will consider linking hydrogen production with renewable diesel made from locally-sourced waste vegetable oils ( WVO ), which requires no adjustments to engines or boilers , but is 80-90 % lower in carbon emissions than regular fuels . The current Road Transport Fuel Obligations offer subsidies to clean fuels , so production of renewable diesel will offset the higher costs of producing hydrogen and ease the transition out of red diesel . As demand for hydrogen ultimately grows , production costs will decrease , breaking the financial dependence on sales of renewable diesel .
Project partners include Oil4Wales , Riversimple and Jon Maddy ( Director of the USW Hydrogen R & D Centre at Baglan ).
This feasibility project work will include :
• Investigating and determining the potential market demand curve for hydrogen treated vegetable oil ( HVO ) and hydrogen over 0-10 years
• The volumes of HVO and hydrogen production required to potentially meet demand and input requirements for production
• Optimum methods for the supply of hydrogen and HVO
• Financial and fiscal analysis
Project management and risk / opportunity register and a feasibility report / business case .
Rob Philips , energy sector director , said : “ Costain is working across South Wales to support the region ’ s commitment to achieving net zero carbon by 2050 , from leading the South Wales Industrial Cluster deployment , to helping local councils decarbonise their vehicle fleets . This study will offer hydrogen production at community-scale , encouraging the uptake of low carbon fuel by giving local users a convenient and cleaner option .”
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