This latest round of government funding to support clean energy production in the UK follows Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early last year and the subsequent impact on global energy prices.

It includes up to £60mn to kick-start the next phase of research into high temperature gas reactor (HTGR) technology, a type of advanced modular reactor (AMR). HTGRs are smaller than conventional nuclear power stations, more flexible, and could be built at a fraction of a cost. It is hoped that as well as creating electricity to power homes, HTGRs will bolster energy security by reducing reliance on fossil fuels, as well as generating by-products such as hydrogen. By generating temperatures of up to 950°C, HTGRs could provide a source of high temperature heat that could help decarbonise industrial processes.

Also announced is up to £13mn for nuclear fuel fabricator Westinghouse in Preston, which produces fuel for the current UK advanced gas cooled reactor fleet. The funding will mean the UK has the option of being less reliant on fuel imports from abroad and will help the company develop the capability to convert both reprocessed uranium and freshly mined uranium to make new fuel. Ministers hope this will also deliver export opportunities for the sector and position the UK as a key international supplier of nuclear fuel and fuel cycle services.

Hydrogen innovation
The government has also committed £25mn to accelerate the deployment of hydrogen from bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). BECCS is a ‘negative emission’ technology, whereby the biomass absorbs CO₂ during its growth, which is then captured and permanently stored during the hydrogen generation process.

Hydrogen BECCS technologies will have a key role to play on the UK’s path to net zero emissions, according to the government, providing hydrogen as a clean fuel for hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as transport and heavy industry.

Gas boiler efficiency standards
The UK government has also outlined proposals to set higher efficiency standards for new gas boilers, which could help households save on energy bills by cutting their use of expensive fossil fuels. Improving boiler efficiency will cut carbon emissions on the way to phasing out new and replacement natural-gas-only boilers from 2035. The proposal estimates 21mn tonnes of CO₂ could be saved by 2050.

In a further move towards making household heating more efficient, the government is consulting on a proposal for all new domestic-scale gas boilers sold from 2026 to be capable of being powered by hydrogen, to prepare for any potential future transition to the use of low-carbon hydrogen for heating.

Heat-in-a-box innovation
In related news, last month the UK government provided funding for H2GO Power and Baxi to lead what is claimed to be a world-first industrial-scale demonstration of a new ‘heat-in-a-box’ carbon neutral pre-heating solution, using artificial intelligence (AI) and hydrogen storage technology. The technology could supply heat for gas pre-heating in a safe and carbon-neutral manner with the potential to supply renewable heating for other operations.

Northern Gas Networks (NGN), the gas distributor for the north-east of England, northern Cumbria and much of Yorkshire, will host the demonstration at its Low Thornley test facility near Gateshead.

Pre-heating is an essential part of distributing gas. Before it can be transported to homes and businesses through the network, the pressure of the gas must be reduced. This process can cause it to freeze, so pre-heating takes place to allow the gas to flow. Traditional pre-heating units are highly energy-intensive, so over the last decade the gas industry has been exploring a range of low-carbon technologies capable of carrying out the process.

Dr Enass Abo-Hamed, H2GO Power CEO, says: ‘The demand for heat is three times higher than the demand for power and is responsible for 40% of all global emissions. Decarbonisation of heat systems have been proven difficult and costly to achieve so far, but this latest initiative is set to change this.’

Words of caution
Meanwhile, UK MPs have warned that hydrogen is not a panacea for reaching net zero by 2050, following publication of a report from the Commons Science and Technology Committee last month. However, hydrogen could grow to have a ‘specific but limited’ role in decarbonising sectors, for example where electrification is not possible, and as a means of storing energy.

The report concludes that hydrogen is not likely to be practically and economically viable for mass use in the short and medium term for heating homes or fuelling passenger cars due to the significant cost, technological and infrastructure challenges associated, as well as the ‘unassailable’ market lead held by alternatives such as electric cars.

Currently, hydrogen is overwhelmingly produced from fossil-fuel intensive processes. Efficient production of low-carbon ‘green’ hydrogen relies on abundant cheap renewable electricity and so-called ‘blue’ hydrogen requires carbon capture and storage, which has not yet been deployed at scale. Given this, the Committee says it is ‘unwise’ to assume hydrogen can make a large contribution to reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions in the short and medium term.

The Committee is ‘unconvinced’ that hydrogen will be able to play a widespread role in heating homes by 2026, when the government has said it could start mandating hydrogen-ready boilers in domestic homes, though it could be feasible to blend some hydrogen with natural gas. It also argues that policy for hydrogen metering in homes has been ‘overlooked’.

Taking a more positive stance, a new industry report claims that low-carbon hydrogen could heat up to 20mn homes and businesses across London and the south-east of England for decades to come. The study claims that the Bacton Energy Hub (BEH), a CCS hydrogen project located on the coast of Norfolk, could not only help to secure the UK’s energy supply but also play a major role in significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently the National Transmission System (NTS), supplying gas to homes and businesses in London and south-east England, consists largely of methane. However, it is possible that by 2030 hydrogen produced at Bacton could be blended into the NTS, helping the transition to net zero while ensuring energy security. Blending 20% hydrogen into the NTS has the potential to abate 1.6mn t/y of CO₂ by 2030, rising to 17mn t/y by 2050, suggests the report.

CCS-enabled hydrogen – produced from natural gas with CO₂ captured and stored – would form the early supply until the early 2040s, after which electrolytic hydrogen – produced through electrolysis (the process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen) – would take over.

The report also highlights the potential that interconnectors to Europe could unlock, which could see Bacton develop into a CO₂ import hub, storing gas transported from western Europe and importing feedstock for hydrogen production.

Wind power is also a significant part of the BEH project; by 2030 the east of England is expected to supply 15 GW of offshore wind capacity towards the UK’s target of 50 GW. This growth in offshore wind will help support the build out opportunity through the generation of electrolytic hydrogen.