Western Gateway Hydrogen Delivery Pathway

Our City Science team constructed a Hydrogen Delivery Pathway, which assessed the potential for hydrogen generation, use and the economic benefits for the Western Gateway partnership. Spanning South Wales and Western England, the partnership is made up of local authorities, a combined authority, city regions, and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

This study has several key purposes including:

  • Review of the existing hydrogen policy context, regulatory framework and funding opportunities.
  • Developing hydrogen supply and demand scenario projections in the area to 2050.
  • Identifying the most suitable locations for hydrogen production, storage and distribution.
  • Estimation of the carbon emissions savings, as a result of the switch to hydrogen
  • Calculating the likely levels of capital expenditure, investment and funding required
  • Assessing the potential approximate economic value of the Western Gateway hydrogen opportunity
Figure 1: Map covering key areas of interest in relation to the Strategy.

City Science Response

The Western Gateway partnership is committed to developing the area to become the UK’s first Green Energy Super Cluster. The area has advanced manufacturing and knowledge-based clusters, most of which are relevant to hydrogen research, production, distribution, and use.Our study assessed the potential roles hydrogen will play in delivering a net zero vision by 2050. This included:

  • Delivering a literature review of the current policy and funding landscape for hydrogen in the UK.
  • Consultation with key stakeholders and experts; particularly in Steel, Aviation, Marine and others industrial sectors.
  • Developing three detailed hydrogen scenarios: creating projections of future demand by sector and examining potential supply sources.
  • Producing a time-lined pathway of the three scenarios with a set of potential actions.

Our Delivery Pathway quantified the potential economic value of developing the Western Gateway Hydrogen Ecosystem, such as productivity outputs, employment, and opportunities building on research and innovation strengths. Economic evaluation covered different pathways including job creation, capital expenditure, Gross Value Added (GVA) and skills. Our study had a wide scope covering several sector end-uses and multiple production routes, as well as hydrogen as an energy storage medium.

This Delivery Pathway built on previous work led by the Western Gateway, such as the Supergen Energy Networks System Study produced by the University of Bristol, which was developed in partnership with the other GW4 Alliance universities (Bath, Cardiff, and Exeter). 

Figure 2: Visualisation of potential hydrogen pipeline routes through the Western Gateway created using Cadence 360.

Outcome

A wide range of hydrogen opportunities in the Western Gateway area were identified through the modelling and consultation exercises. Our study provides hydrogen supply and demand quantities under a range of different scenarios, as well as a geospatial breakdown across the area. We outline the economic benefits of developing the hydrogen economy and developed a time lined pathway to a hydrogen economy, complete with a list of potential actions.