EMEC Leads Hydrogen Feasibility Studies with Funding Support

The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) has been granted funding of over £500,000 (approximately $623,000) to support four feasibility projects focused on driving innovation and development in green hydrogen.

The funding will be allocated to conduct feasibility studies aimed at advancing novel solutions for hydrogen production, storage, and distribution. EMEC, as part of four project consortia, will lead the initiatives to explore various technology concepts for offshore and off-grid hydrogen production, seawater electrolysis, and the application of artificial intelligence in hydrogen logistics.

Let’s take a closer look at the projects that will benefit from this funding:

HySKUA (lead partner: EMEC): This study will focus on the offshore production of green hydrogen using a floating hydrogen production hub, potentially situated alongside Scottish offshore wind farms.

HyBrine (lead partner: sHYp BV Ltd): The feasibility study aims to achieve cost-effective, efficient, and sustainable hydrogen production by utilizing seawater as the water source. Technological advancements will eliminate the need for desalination systems and enable more durable and reliable electrolysis.

Feasibility of Explainable AI for Hydrogen Generation (lead partner: Intelligent Plant Ltd): This study will develop a decision support system that utilizes explainable artificial intelligence to enhance operational efficiency and logistics solutions for hydrogen production.

Off-grid Green Hydrogen Production Demonstration (lead partner: ORE Catapult Development Services Limited): The study will assess the feasibility of a demonstration project for off-grid green hydrogen production.

EMEC’s Hydrogen Development Manager, Matthew Storey, expressed his enthusiasm for the funding, stating that it reflects the Scottish Government’s commitment to integrating green hydrogen into the future energy system. EMEC’s expertise in applied hydrogen research and development, sustainable fuels, and techno-economics will be instrumental in leading the projects, particularly HySKUA.

These four projects address critical areas that require further research and development to unlock the potential of hydrogen in the energy mix. Through these studies, challenges hindering the scale-up of hydrogen technologies can be identified and addressed.

The funding awarded to EMEC is part of the Scottish Government’s Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, which has earmarked £7 million ($8.8 million) to support 32 projects across Scotland. Launched in June 2022, the scheme, under the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF), aims to facilitate the development and demonstration of renewable hydrogen technologies and products. It aligns with the Scottish Government’s ambition to achieve 5 GW of installed hydrogen production capacity by 2030.