The UK government should establish the safety case for hydrogen as a replacement for natural gas in domestic heating applications, according to a report from the National Infrastructure Commission.

The commission carries out in-depth studies into the UK’s major infrastructure needs and makes recommendations to the government.

As part of its latest report on what is required for UK energy infrastructure to reach net zero, the report recommends the government make progress towards zero-carbon heat.

20pc – Proportion of hydrogen utilities want to blend into gas grids

It says the UK should trial hydrogen at a community scale by 2021 and then—depending on the success of these trials—launch a wider scheme to supply hydrogen to at least 10,000 homes by 2023.

This is likely to be blue hydrogen, given that only blue hydrogen projects will be producing enough of the fuel by that point.

Net-zero strategy

The UK’s net-zero strategy did not commit to hydrogen in domestic heating applications, instead outlining three possible scenarios.

The scenarios were ‘high electrification’, should hydrogen be determined to be non-viable for widespread use in heating; ‘high hydrogen’; should the gas be determined to be “feasible and preferable” for heating; and ‘dual-use’, in which consumers vary in switching to hydrogen or installing heat pumps.

The high hydrogen scenario would require conversion of much of the national gas grid after 2026. The conversion would likely start by building out from existing hydrogen production and use in industrial clusters, with roll-out involving a switchover on an area-by-area basis.

The strategy notes it is too early to properly estimate costs for hydrogen heating due to uncertainty around future means of production.

Hydrogen-ready

UK independent climate watchdog the Climate Change Committee (CCC) says all new boilers should be hydrogen-ready from 2025. The CCC’s scenarios involve the phase-out of oil boilers by 2028 and gas boilers by 2033, with the exception of hydrogen-ready gas boilers in areas where the gas grid is set to convert to low-carbon hydrogen.

Utilities that are part of industry body the Energy Networks Association plan to blend up to 20pc hydrogen into local gas grids by 2023 and to convert villages to run on 100pc hydrogen by 2025.

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Author: Tom Young