East of England - the quiet powerhouse behind hydrogen?

You might not know it, but the East of England’s is an energy powerhouse, producing enough low carbon and renewable energy to power 32% of UK homes. It’s home to one of Europe’s largest offshore wind development zones with 37% of the UK’s offshore wind fleet. Its ports, including Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, are abuzz with the region’s highly skilled offshore workforce. And let’s not forget Bacton Gas Terminal which supplies 30% of the UK’s natural gas from fields in the Southern North Sea, and the gas interconnectors that make landfall from Europe here. They’re two-way, offering both import and export potential for molecules -the greener the better.

Looking to the horizon, the region’s diverse energy mix and offshore expertise also makes it perfectly placed for the upcoming hydrogen revolution. As the region’s green energy generation potential to produce hydrogen far outweighs local demand, it is well placed to export not only domestically, but to Europe too, supporting the EU’s strategic decarbonisation goals.

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Unlocking the East of England’s hydrogen future

Struck by the potential, a cross-industry collaboration was established in 2020 to put the East of England on the UK hydrogen map. Today, over 30 companies representing the supply chain, major utilities, potential off takers, industry advisors and academia have come together to develop the region’s renewable hydrogen roadmap through Hydrogen East*.

With decades of world class offshore energy engineering skills and a core belief that renewable hydrogen has a key role to play in the decarbonisation of the energy system, Aquaterra Energy was one of the first to join and more recently I became chair of the initiative.

Having built expertise in oil and gas, Aquaterra Energy is now deploying its people, creativity and reputation to accelerate the commercialisation and scale of renewable energy technologies. We all want to build a sustainable future for every one of our team, their families and the region more broadly and believe a vibrant hydrogen economy can help deliver just that. As well as the time and resources we’re dedicating to Hydrogen East, we’re also working with developers to help create the solutions which will drive the acceleration of the sector and with it decarbonisation.

Together as an industry we have already made great strides. Led by Cambridge University, a mapping exercise has been completed to assess existing infrastructure, and a roadmap for the future has been drawn up. We are also actively engaging with likeminded hydrogen hubs and clusters to apply lessons learned to reduce the time to first hydrogen. The next stage of the work will be to translate the roadmap into scaled-up, fundable near-term, regional development opportunities both in terms of generation – onshore and offshore – and in terms of offtake. Initial plans are already underway for circa 5 x 20MWh sub-utility scale green hydrogen projects.

As one of the UK’s foremost farming regions, the East of England represents a massive opportunity to use hydrogen to decarbonise everything from tractors to fertiliser manufacturing. Aviation and transport offer promise too. Plans are already in the works to develop a net zero hydrogen transport hub at Snetterton to take advantage of its strategic location on the A11, with high volumes of HGV traffic annually, while Norwich Airport is increasingly recognised as a centre of excellence for sustainable aviation due its commitment to skills development and sustainability.

Altogether, the potential benefit of these projects to the local area is enormous, representing billions of pounds in gross added value and thousands of jobs.

Bringing together the region’s energy future

To maximise hydrogen’s potential within the region, we need a longer-term strategy that takes a holistic view of the opportunities, challenges and potential synergies across different stakeholder groups. Around 60% of the UK’s offshore wind projects are due to come onshore along the East Coast, and there are plans afoot to redevelop Bacton Gas Terminal where its existing interconnectors to Belgium and Netherlands could be converted to export hydrogen. Into the 2030s, the 3.2GW of additional capacity from Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station will be a further hydrogen avenue to explore. Linking into Project Union – a plan to create a 2,000km hydrogen backbone from new and repurposed pipelines will also be important.

These are just a few of the plans and projects that may factor into realising the East of England’s potential as a major hydrogen producer and exporter. But intelligent engineering expertise as well as a highly collaborative and integrated approach will also be mission-critical. Given the pressure to scale hydrogen quickly, projects must be built ‘right first time’ and the devil will be in the detail. Added to that, projects need to be lean and highly repeatable to lower capex and improve return on investment.

This is where rethinking and reapplying existing offshore expertise will be highly prized. Hydrogen East’s role is integral in that respect, convening the skills and expertise from companies such as Aquaterra Energy to unlock billions of pounds in investment and deliver thousands of jobs for the region.

*Hydrogen East covers all land to the east of the A1 from the Humber to the south coast, encompassing Lincolnshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Kent. There are 31 members, in total, 16 in the IAG and 15 cluster supporters.