“Game-changing” technologies designed to accelerate the production, transportation, storage and utilisation of hydrogen could be in-line to receive significant funding.
Aberdeen-based OGTC, formerly the Oil and Gas Technology Centre, has extended its latest call for ideas, with the organisation planning to invest up to £1 million in leading solutions.
Funding will be part provided by Scottish Funding Partners; the Scottish Government, the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Enterprise.
It follows a host of recent government announcements aimed to speed up the use of the low carbon fuel, including the Scottish Government Hydrogen Policy Statement and the North Sea Transition Deal.
Submissions to the call for ideas must focus on technologies that will decarbonise offshore operations and help the UK become the world’s first net zero basin.
Ideas have to be at an early stage, require academic research and development to accelerate development, and be focused on at least one of the following topics:
- Optimising the production of blue hydrogen – innovation in low carbon hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage. The main innovation gap involves the separation of hydrogen or carbon to improve yield and carbon capture.
- Bulk hydrogen transportation – enabling effective transportation of renewable energy to utilisation and storage locations. Challenges include effective hydrogen carriers (including liquid organic hydrogen carriers – LOHC) and pipeline repurposing.
- Long-term hydrogen storage – enabling intermittent renewable electricity to become a round-the-clock resource on the way to an eventual carbon-free grid. This may include identification of potential storage sites across the UK and underground storage.
- Hydrogen carrier utilisation – applications include power generation for offshore platforms and/or as a transportation fuel for the marine sector.
Direct funding of up to £100,000 will be available to support university, college, or higher education-delivered research and development for the successful applicants.
OGTC will look to match this funding through a mix of developer and industry contributions.
The organisation is also involved in a separate project with Holyrood and other partners to examine the potential for hydrogen transportation and storage in Scotland.
Dr Vinay Mulgundmath, chief technologist at OGTC, said: “Our Integrated Energy Vision report, published last year, outlined how a ten-fold increase in hydrogen production is needed by 2050 to create new jobs and achieve maximum economic benefit for the UK.
“New solutions to unlock the potential of blue and green hydrogen are a top priority for OGTC, and we have the network in place to offer developers best-in-class technology support, academic expertise and funding. Now is the time to accelerate and scale the technologies which will reduce costs and allow hydrogen to become widely used as part of our future sustainable energy mix.”
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