(681e) Generation and Storage of Green Hydrogen for the Decarbonisation of Energy-Intensive Industries: Whole-Systems Value Chain Optimisation

Low-carbon hydrogen has a crucial role to play in the UK's transition to net zero by 2050, complementing renewable electricity, and providing an alternative low-carbon energy source for sectors that are difficult to decarbonise. To kickstart a thriving low-carbon hydrogen economy, the UK Government has set a target capacity of 5 GW of hydrogen generation by 2030. This will require a rapid and large-scale deployment of generation capacity, infrastructures to support the delivery of the hydrogen to its end users and growing its demands. Switching energy-intensive industries to low-carbon hydrogen could help accelerate its uptake and provide a reliable demand to entice producers into the market. This is also the largest opportunity for reducing CO₂ emissions: per tonne of hydrogen used, heavy industry can abate about 4 times as much CO₂ as other sectors. Once the market has been established, this could trickle down to other sectors, such as heating in buildings and transport, particularly long distance and heavy duty, where battery vehicles are not well suited, helping to progress the UK towards net zero.

Switching energy-intensive industries to hydrogen is an effective way of integrating hydrogen into the whole energy system. This study is investigating how this can be done: what the system requirements are as well as the benefits and impacts of doing so. The implications of integrating these processes and the value chains for supplying low-carbon hydrogen into the wider energy system are being explored. A whole-system modelling and optimisation approach has been developed to simultaneously determine the optimal planning, design and operation of the overall system. The model includes a representation of the possible technologies, infrastructures and resources, and determines the optimal combination of these (what technologies and infrastructures to deploy, where and when, and how to operate them over time) in order to satisfy the demands for energy services and products, while satisfying constraints (e.g. environmental), to minimise an overall performance criterion (e.g. total costs or GHG emissions).

This presentation will focus on the roles of various generation and storage technologies for green hydrogen that will be required to supply a decarbonised steel industry, using Direct Reduction of Iron with hydrogen combined with Electric Arc Furnace. A number of scenarios were modelled and optimised, and we will present results that answer questions such as: What are the impacts on the electricity network and the wider energy system? How much energy storage capacity will be needed and in what form?