As the UK aims to cut 1 million tones of CO₂ annually through green hydrogen by 2030, digital efficiency is becoming as critical as electrolyzer output. In this context, green hydrogen developer Protium has partnered with AVEVA to digitize and optimize its operations, with the aim of accelerating project delivery while reducing costs and emissions.
Protium has integrated AVEVA’s industrial software suite as the backbone of its digital industrial intelligence platform. The company claims this shift has slashed staff time spent on process simulation by 30% and improved operational reliability by 15%. More significantly, Protium anticipates that its digital twin environment, developed through AVEVA’s software stack, could support a further 5–10% reduction in CO₂ emissions by improving process design and utility efficiency.
These efficiency gains come as the company prepares to scale up. Protium is on the verge of launching its second hydrogen production facility and is expanding a portfolio that spans infrastructure design, project financing, and plant operations. The newly digitized platform, underpinned by real-time performance analytics and integrated visualization tools, aims to bridge technical, financial, and operational silos—a persistent hurdle in scaling green hydrogen solutions.
The platform is more than just an upgrade in monitoring. By enabling integrated fault detection, contextualized data insights, and certified electricity origin tracking, the system supports end-to-end plant visibility—a requirement for compliance and bankability in emerging hydrogen markets. AVEVA’s digital twin capabilities provide a continuous feedback loop, helping Protium identify maintenance reduction targets (projected at 15%) while increasing asset uptime and lifespan.
The broader context is one of intensifying scrutiny over the cost-effectiveness and reliability of green hydrogen. Despite political backing, with the UK targeting 10 GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030 (at least half from electrolysis), persistent challenges remain. These include high capital costs, lack of standardization in digital infrastructure, and uncertainty in revenue models tied to grid participation and off-take agreements.
The Protium–AVEVA partnership suggests that a robust digital layer could be decisive in managing the operational intricacies of variable electricity input, thermal balancing, and multi-vector energy flows.
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