The Port of Shoreham, the commercial port west of Brighton on the UK’s south coast, has announced a partnership with a local company to build a 20-megawatt electrolysis plant next to the port’s locks.
The hydrogen will be certified as fully environmentally friendly, as it will be produced from a combination of on-site renewable energy sources at the port and green energy from the grid.
The plant will manufacture fuel cell-grade hydrogen for fuel cell buses and trucks, as well as for ships and the port’s own cranes and forklifts.
“With the creation of our hydrogen facility, which will supply zero-emission green hydrogen, the Port of Shoreham can be part of the solution to the region’s net energy challenges. As a community organization, we would like to work with everyone to make this new phase of the port’s growth a success.”
The new plant will be clean, quiet and create good quality jobs at the Port and in the community at large,” said Tom Willis, Port CEO.
The hydrogen supply chain in the UK is expected to grow rapidly over the next five to ten years as demand for practical zero-emission, zero-carbon alternatives to diesel increases.
A recent report by energy market analysis firm Aurora Energy Research forecasts that hydrogen demand could grow from 330 terawatt-hours today to 2,500 terawatt-hours by 2050.
The developer, H2evolution, says that in addition to meeting a market need for hydrogen consumers, the plant will provide demand response for wind and solar plants, absorbing electricity when there is too much and reducing the need for curtailment.
“This is an excellent location for the creation of a game-changing green hydrogen facility. We will produce a totally green, carbon-free fuel to decarbonize the equivalent of 300 buses; enough for towns and cities like Brighton & Hove and Worthing, preventing the emission of more than 100 tons of CO2 a day,” said Stephen David, H2evolution’s chairman.
The news follows the announcement by the Port of Rotterdam and German energy company Uniper that they are initiating a feasibility study to investigate the large-scale production of green hydrogen in the Maasvlakte area of Rotterdam, a location where the offshore wind energy industry and the hydrogen-consuming petrochemical industry overlap.
“The production of green hydrogen at the Uniper site fits perfectly with the Port Authority’s strategy to make the industry more sustainable,” said Allard Castelein, managing director of the Port of Rotterdam Authority. “Green hydrogen is a sustainable alternative to natural gas for achieving high temperatures. In addition, it is an important sustainable feedstock for the chemical industry.”
