SSE Renewables and the Port of Galway are part of a team that has launched plans for Ireland’s first Hydrogen Valley.
A Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD, unveiled the Galway Hydrogen Hub (GH2) today at a symposium sponsored by the Port of Galway on the subject of the Renewable Energy Opportunity in the West of Ireland.
NUI Galway, CIE Group, Bus Eireann, Aran Islands Ferries, Lasta Mara Teo, and Aer Arann Islands are the other members of GH2.
The plan from GH2 aims to create a Hydrogen Valley in Galway, similar to ones that have been established in other European nations.
A Hydrogen Valley is a geographical ecosystem that connects hydrogen research, manufacturing, distribution, and transportation to a variety of end-users, including transportation and industry.
The use of locally produced renewable hydrogen at Hydrogen Valleys is seen as a critical step toward the creation of a new hydrogen economy.
The goal of the GH2 consortium is to create a first-of-its-kind flagship demonstrator project in Galway Harbour for the generation and delivery of pure green hydrogen fuel for public and private vehicles.
This will comprise buses and trucks, resulting in a multi-modal, zero-emission, renewable hydrogen transportation hub that can be reproduced across Ireland.
By the second part of 2024, the hub is projected to be completely operational.
“Our group has joined together with the goal of not just harnessing green hydrogen to develop new renewable energy solutions for Ireland, but also to produce the country’s first Hydrogen Valley,” stated John O’Sullivan, project manager for GH2.
“Green hydrogen is gaining traction across the world as a way to decarbonize heavy-duty and long-distance transportation, as well as industries.”
“The creation of Ireland’s first Hydrogen Valley in Galway Harbour will enable us to use locally available renewable energy to manufacture green hydrogen for use by local air, sea, road, and rail transportation as well as industry.”
“As part of the integrated SSE Group, SSE Renewables has a unique perspective across the whole energy value chain, and is thus well-positioned to offer this green hydrogen solution for the consortium, assisting in the creation of a new hydrogen economy in the West of Ireland.”
“Sustainability and decarbonization are at the core of public transportation,” said Lorcan O’Connor, chief executive of the CIE company.
“As the country’s largest public transportation provider, we are happy to engage with our GH2 consortium partners to guarantee we are at the forefront of the potential hydrogen fuel will give in reaching both our own and the state’s decarbonization ambitions.”
“It will guarantee that we have investigated a complementary mix of zero-emission technologies, with a present focus on electrification, to power low-carbon transportation and reach our 2030 objectives and net-zero aim by 2050,” says the report.
“What we produce and learn in Galway as part of this creative alliance might have a revolutionary impact on the transportation sector as a whole.”
“The availability of safe indigenous renewable energy will depend in large part on the future sustainable growth of our region,” said Rory Monaghan, senior lecturer of energy systems engineering at NUI Galway.
“While wind is helping to green our power grid, we consume twice as much energy for transportation, which is nearly entirely imported fossil fuel.” The utilization of wind to power a zero-emission, multi-modal transportation industry is GH2’s core innovation.”
