TIDMITM
ITM Power PLC
02 January 2020
2 January 2020
ITM Power plc
("ITM Power" or "the Company")
HyDeploy: UK Gas Grid Injection of Hydrogen in Full
Operation
ITM Power (AIM: ITM), the energy storage and clean fuel company,
is pleased to note the announcement by HyDeploy that the UK's first
pilot project to inject zero carbon hydrogen into a gas network to
heat homes and businesses is now fully operational. The full text
of HyDeploy's announcement is set out below.
Dr Graham Cooley, CEO, ITM Power said: "I am delighted that this
important pilot project is now operational. The increased use of
hydrogen to decarbonise heat via the gas grid will perform a
critical role in helping the UK to fulfil its ambitious climate
change obligations. Indeed, the Committee for Climate Change has
indicated that the UK will need between 6GW and 17GW of
electrolysis in the next 30 years to store renewable power and
provide renewable heat. Today's announcement is a very significant
step."
UK's first grid-injected hydrogen pilot gets underway
-- Ground-breaking UK hydrogen trial underway at Keele University
-- First time zero carbon hydrogen has been injected in the UK's modern gas grid
-- 20% hydrogen/natural gas blend can cut CO2 emissions without the need to change gas appliances
The UK's first live pilot to inject zero carbon hydrogen into a
gas network to heat homes and businesses is now fully
operational.
HyDeploy is a ground-breaking green energy trial at Keele
University, Staffordshire, that could help Britain cut its carbon
emissions and open the door to a low-carbon hydrogen economy.
The HyDeploy demonstration is injecting up to 20% (by volume) of
hydrogen into Keele University's existing natural gas network,
feeding 100 homes and 30 faculty buildings. The 20% hydrogen blend
is the highest in Europe, together with a similar project being run
by Engie in Northern France.
Backed by Ofgem's Network Innovation Competition, the GBP7
million project is led by Cadent in partnership with Northern Gas
Networks, Keele University, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
Science Division, integrated hydrogen energy systems manufacturer
ITM-Power, and independent clean energy company Progressive
Energy.
When burned, hydrogen creates heat without carbon dioxide. The
Committee on Climate Change has determined that the use of hydrogen
in our energy system is necessary in order to reach Net Zero.
Heating for domestic properties and industry accounts for half
of the UK's energy consumption and one third of its carbon
emissions, with 83% of homes using gas to keep warm. The 20% volume
blend means that customers can continue to use their gas supply as
normal, without any changes being needed to gas appliances or
pipework, while still cutting 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.
Ed Syson, Chief Safety and Strategy Officer for Cadent, said:
"It is impossible to overstate the importance of this trial to the
UK - this is the first ever practical demonstration of hydrogen in
a modern gas network in this country.
"Hydrogen can help us tackle one of the most difficult sources
of carbon emissions - heat. This trial could pave the way for a
wider roll out of hydrogen blending, enabling consumers to cut
carbon emissions without changing anything that they do.
"HyDeploy could also prove to be the launchpad for a wider
hydrogen economy, fuelling industry and transport, bringing new
jobs and making Britain a world-leader in this technology. Urgent
action is needed on carbon emissions and HyDeploy is an important
staging post on that journey in the UK."
Mark Horsley, Chief Executive, Northern Gas Networks, said:
"Hydrogen is a key piece of the decarbonisation jigsaw, and this
milestone allows us to take a huge leap forwards in terms of its
use in meeting climate change targets.
"Customers are ready to embrace cleaner, greener solutions in
their homes, and projects like HyDeploy give us the opportunity to
start making a difference to emissions today. We're very excited to
be a part of it."
Professor Mark Ormerod, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Provost at
Keele University, said: "Sustainability and low carbon energy is a
key overarching institutional priority for Keele University, and we
are delighted to be a key partner in HyDeploy.
"HyDeploy is a pioneering landmark national demonstration
project, using our campus as a genuine 'living laboratory' for low
carbon and energy efficient technologies. HyDeploy has the
potential to be hugely impactful and lead to a step change in the
reduction of carbon emissions associated with heat."
The hydrogen is produced by an electrolyser. The electrolyser,
produced by the UK based hydrogen energy solutions provider ITM
Power, uses an electrical current to split water molecules into
hydrogen and oxygen.
In 2018 the HSE granted the HyDeploy consortium an exemption to
the current limit of 0.1% hydrogen in the UK gas network. The
exemption to 20% hydrogen for the project at Keele was awarded
after the project gathered extensive evidence, which was
scrutinised by the HSE, to demonstrate the hydrogen blend would be
'as safe as natural gas'. A similar approach was used to allow the
first bio-methane producers to inject biogas into the natural gas
network.
Gas safety checks were carried out in the homes and buildings in
the trial area. Laboratory tests were carried out on a range of gas
appliances, as well as extensive research on the effect of hydrogen
on the different materials found in the gas network and the
appliances.
Key learning was shared between international projects who are
also trialling hydrogen blends. The HSE Science Division has been
overseeing all technical and safety aspects of HyDeploy.
Keele University was viewed as the perfect location, owning and
operating its own private gas network, which could be safely
isolated from the wider UK gas network. The University is working
with businesses, academics and graduates to create Europe's first
'at scale' multi-energy-vector Smart Energy Network Demonstrator
(SEND) - where new energy-efficient technologies can be researched,
developed and tested in a real world environment.
Fast facts
-- Heating homes and industry accounts for nearly half of all
energy use in the UK and one third of the country's carbon
emissions.
-- Hydrogen was a major component in 'town gas', gas created
from coal and used widely throughout Britain before the discovery
of North Sea gas in the 1960s. Up to 60% of the gas (by volume)
being used by consumers was hydrogen.
-- Across Europe, permitted levels of hydrogen in the gas supply
vary, from 0.1% in the UK to up to 12% in parts of the
Netherlands
www.hydeploy.co.uk.
For further information, please visit www.itm-power.com or
contact:
ITM Power plc (0)114 244 5111
Andy Allen, Finance Director
Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser
and Broker) (0)20 7597 5970
Jeremy Ellis / Chris Sim
Tavistock (Financial PR and IR) (0)20 7920 3150
Simon Hudson / Barney Hayward
About ITM Power plc:
ITM Power plc manufactures integrated hydrogen energy solutions
for grid balancing, energy storage and the production of green
hydrogen for transport, renewable heat and chemicals. ITM Power plc
was admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in
2004. In October 2019, the Company announced the completion of a
GBP58.8 million fundraise, including a subscription by Linde of
GBP38 million, together with the formation of a joint-venture with
Linde to focus on delivering green hydrogen to large scale
industrial projects worldwide. ITM Power signed a forecourt siting
agreement with Shell for hydrogen refuelling stations in September
2015, (which was extended in May 2019 to include buses, trucks,
trains and ships) and in January 2018 a deal to deploy a 10MW
electrolyser at Shell's Rhineland refinery. ITM Power announced the
lease of the world's largest electrolyser factory in Sheffield with
a capacity of 1GW (1,000MW) per annum in July 2019. Customers and
partners include Sumitomo, Ørsted, National Grid, Cadent, Northern
Gas Networks, Gasunie, RWE, Engie, BOC Linde, Toyota, Honda,
Hyundai and Anglo American among others.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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