The Division for Power Safety and Web-Zero (DESNZ) issued a press release at present confirming the choice, which is able to delay the pilot till after Ministers have taken a strategic stance on the position of hydrogen in home heating in 2026. This announcement was nestled in between publications of month-to-month vitality traits knowledge.
Hydrogen “may have a role to play in heat decarbonisation”, DESNZ’s brief assertion reads. However it is going to be restricted to “some locations” and might be rolled out throughout an extended time interval than initially anticipated.
Ministers had hoped to undertake hydrogen trials at ever-increasing scales, from neighbourhood, to village, to city, earlier than taking its strategic determination in 2026.
Neighbourhood trials are set to start in Fife subsequent yr after delays, and are already underway in a number of places in mainland Europe. SGN is main the Fife venture and has attributed delays to provide chain challenges.
Nevertheless, each of the UK’s hydrogen village trials have been mothballed as a consequence of staunch opposition from native residents. The first, in Whitby, was axed last summer. The opposite, in Redcar, was abandoned in December.
The city pilot would have seen hydrogen used as a substitute for pure fuel in as much as 10,000 properties. A location had not been firmed up however 4 fuel distribution community submitted purposes for presidency funding below the scheme, floating places in Chester, Humberside, Hull, East Using, Leeds and Teesside.
In the present day’s information will come as a blow to fuel distribution networks which were campaigning for the UK Authorities to make sure that hydrogen has a key position to play in decarbonising the nation’s heating methods. Their argument is that, in doing so, gas infrastructure can continue to be used.
Nevertheless, amid each protests and a rising physique of analysis on the doubtless restricted emissions and value advantages of hydrogen over warmth pumps, Ministers are going through calls to not place all their bets on hydrogen.
Calls to motion of this nature have been made by our bodies together with the National Infrastructure Commission, Citizen’s Advicethe House of Commons Science and Technology Committee and E3G.
The Authorities’s own climate advisors have stated thatno matter what choices are made for the end-use of hydrogen, present progress to roll out electrical warmth pumps and related warmth networks is way too gradual.
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