Lhyfe, Centrica plan UK-first offshore green hydrogen facility

Lhyfe and Centrica have agreed to jointly develop a green hydrogen production facility in the UK that will use electricity from offshore windfarms 

The project, which will be a first for the country, will see Lhyfe and Centrica collaborate on a pilot green hydrogen production site in the southern North Sea. 

The pilot will combine Lhyfe’s expertise in green hydrogen production and Centrica’s experience of gas storage and infrastructure. The goal is to prove an end-to-end hydrogen production, storage and distribution system is possible in the country.

The energy firms will examine an additional partnership to deploy the technology at commercial scale alongside offshore wind electricity production.

Lhyfe UK and Ireland country manager Colin Brown said, “This agreement with Centrica is an exciting opportunity to drive the clean energy transition through large-scale offshore green hydrogen production. 

“Offshore electrolysis coupled with hydrogen storage will maximise the huge potential of offshore wind around the UK. The UK can become a global leader in the production of renewable green hydrogen, moving away from our reliance on fossil fuels and improving our homegrown energy security, while delivering net zero and boosting local economies.”

Centrica Storage managing director Martin Scargill said hydrogen “will play a key role in decarbonising the UK’s power supply.”

Mr Scargill said, “Our long-term ambition is for Rough, our gas storage site, to be the world’s largest hydrogen store, offering up to 16 TWh of storage capacity. This pilot will show how green hydrogen can be produced, moved and stored in the UK market, all while supporting the UK on its net-zero journey.”

The UK government has doubled its low-carbon hydrogen production target from 5 GW to 10 GW by 2030, with at least half of this coming from green hydrogen. 

Hydrogen production is expected to initially support decarbonisation of industrial clusters, like the Humber cluster with further use cases developing with a growing hydrogen economy.

A recent report by the Climate Change Committee confirmed the essential role of hydrogen production, storage and use in achieving the goal of a net-zero electricity system in the UK by 2035.