9th November 2021
Last month HSE was named as part of a winning consortium
aiming to develop a national hydrogen highway network that will
integrate land, sea and port.
The consortium, led by the Port of London Authority (PLA), has
been successful in securing £1.3m of funding as part of the Smart
Maritime Land Operations Call, a Maritime Research and Innovation
UK (MarRI-UK) initiative supported by the Department for Transport
(DfT).
Image published with permission of
the Port of London Authority.
HSE, through its Research and Consultancy services, will join
the PLA and other partners including OS Energy, University of
Strathclyde, University of Kent, ORE Catapult, University of
Birmingham and Newcastle Marine Services, in a two year project
comprising of six work packages covering aspects such as
researching energy diversity, trialling hydrogen power generation
for vessels based at the PLA's Denton Wharf, establishing the
business case for back hauling hydrogen into central London,
optimising ship design and understanding health & safety
requirements.
HSE is leading a work package to define a port case study in
order to understand the safety and feasibility of a hydrogen
infrastructure. The objective will be to identify the hazards that
could be introduced as a result of transporting and using hydrogen
in a port environment. This will include determining the types of
safeguards that will need to be in place, highlighting any
knowledge gaps and making recommendations for further development.
HSE will also be a source of technical challenge and advice to
other work packages regarding safety considerations.
Commenting on the successful bid, Kate Jeffrey from HSE's Centre
for Energy said:
'Achieving net zero by 2050 is a massive challenge for
all sectors, so we're delighted to be applying our world-class,
scientific expertise in hydrogen safety to help the maritime sector
proactively anticipate their safety challenges early so that they
can work at pace to decarbonise.
This project allows us to do what we do best - bring industry,
academia and other regulators round the table to understand the
end-to-end process and ensure that safety is considered throughout
the entire lifecycle'.
This announcement comes hot off the heels of another recent
successful consortium bid involving HSE, this time supporting work
in the aviation sector as part of the
Aerospace Technology Institute's FlyZero programme.
HSE Research and Consultancy, which is independent from HSE's
regulatory and policy functions and is based with its Science
Division, is the ideal safety partner to assist with enabling the
hydrogen energy technologies and infrastructure required for net
zero.
For over twenty years, it has been carrying out world-leading,
cutting-edge research looking into the practicality, risk and
safety issues associated with utilising hydrogen as a source of
energy. In addition to industry project work, HSE Research and
Consultancy is also involved in a range of international
representation work with the International Standards Organization,
the International Energy Agency, the International Partnership for
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy, the European Commission and
the International Association for Hydrogen Safety.
To discuss how HSE can be involved in your project,
contact Kate Jeffrey: kate.jeffrey@hse.gov.uk.
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