Hydrogen Economy: Reassessing Approaches to Connecting Large Electrolyser Sites (HERACLES)
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| Funding mechanism | Network Innovation Allowance (NIA) |
| Duration | Apr 2022 - Jul 2023 |
| Project expenditure | £109k |
| Research area | Net zero and the Energy System Transition |
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Objective(s)
• Understand the current and future development of the hydrogen economy in the UK.
• Understand the technical and operational characteristics of hydrogen electrolysers.
• Develop an understanding of how electrolyser connections to distribution networks may be optimised.
Problem(s)
The UK’s Hydrogen Strategy sets a target for 5 GW of hydrogen production capacity in the UK by 2030. It is anticipated that the majority of hydrogen will be produced via electrolysis, which means adding a sizeable amount of demand to electricity networks.
Innovation projects investigating hydrogen electrolyser connections have focused on the use case for hydrogen plants as enablers of storage solutions for renewable generation, or developments informed entirely by uptake of fuel cell electric vehicles. This is distinct from the growth of the hydrogen production economy in its own right, and there is a need to ensure electricity networks would not be a blocker to increased hydrogen production uptake. Furthermore, it is not well known what the likely operating behaviour and demand characteristics of electrolysers will be, and how they will interact with electricity networks.
Movement to grow capacity in the wake of the Hydrogen Strategy is already being seen in the UK. For example, the HyDEX project seeks to make the Midlands a world leading hub for the hydrogen economy. National Grid must be in a position to meet the challenges of this growth and ensure that the electricity network is not an obstacle for the successful deployment of this technology.
Method(s)
The HERACLES project will pioneer the development of solutions to this problem by developing an understanding of how DNOs might strategically address connecting electrolytic hydrogen plants to their networks and ensure their optimum operation. The project will consist of the following work packages:
Work Package 1: Discovery and criteria development
This work package will capture existing knowledge gaps on hydrogen electrolysers and the wider hydrogen economy, existing connection assessment processes and the tools currently used to optimise connections (e.g. capacity maps) and the requisite answers for developing a hydrogen strategy for electricity distribution. It will assess the current UK landscape for the development of the hydrogen economy to understand in detail the problem as described above and develop the criteria for identifying optimum location for hydrogen electrolyser connections.
Work Package 2: Network investigation
This work package will carry out a network investigation to test implementation of the criteria developed in WP1 on a section of National Grid’s network and identify optimum deployment locations in this area based on the expected operating behaviour identified in the discovery phase. The selected network area will be around two BSPs in National Grid’s licence areas. If possible, selection of this network area will leverage knowledge of UK hydrogen economy growth gleaned through discovery activities in WP1. Otherwise, an area in National Grid’s South West region will be the default study location.
Work Package 3: Hydrogen electrolyser connection considerations document
This work package will collate the find of the previous work packages to outline at high-level the considerations for assessing the impact of hydrogen electrolyser connections to the distribution network and discuss the factors most important for optimising connection locations. It will contextualise this discussion with recommendations and next steps for DNOs to develop an electricity distribution hydrogen strategy.