Will UK Hydrogen Strategy pave the way for shipping’s decarbonisation?

The UK government recently unveiled its first Hydrogen Strategy with a vision to create a thriving low-carbon hydrogen sector over the next decade and beyond.

The strategy drives forward the commitments laid out in Prime Minister Johnson’s 10 Point Plan for a green industrial revolution by setting the foundation for how the UK government will work with industry to meet its ambition for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030.

The low carbon hydrogen is expected to help the UK to cut emissions by 75 per cent by 2035, achieve net zero by 2050, and its Sixth Carbon Budget target by 2035.

However, delivering decarbonisation and economic benefits from hydrogen and achieving the above targets will require rapid and significant scale up over coming years given that there is almost no low carbon production of hydrogen in the UK or globally.

For this reason, the UK readies to develop the market framework for low carbon hydrogen by supporting innovative projects and hydrogen production, simplifying the regulatory environment, investing in research and focusing on a whole-system approach.

Hydrogen and the future of shipping

Hydrogen or hydrogen-based fuels — such as ammonia — are said to be the leading option for decarbonisation of sectors that cannot be easily electrified, including shipping and some industrial processes.

Therefore, such fuels are likely to play an important role in the maritime sector’s decarbonization.

Specifically, hydrogen could be used to decarbonise ships directly, through combustion or in fuel cells, or as feedstock for methanol or ammonia. Liquid ammonia is more energy dense than hydrogen meaning less storage volume is required on vessels, which may represent an effective option for larger ships on long-distance routes.

Ammonia is also already internationally transported on ships so some infrastructure and supporting regulations are in place despite the fact that this ammonia is currently not low carbon.

It is estimated that the demand for hydrogen-based fuels from shipping could start ramping up significantly between 2030 and 2035. By 2050, it is estimated that there could be 75 – 95 TWh of demand for hydrogen-based fuels — principally in the form of ammonia — from UK domestic shipping and UK international shipping.

The UK and the hydrogen-powered maritime ecosystem

The UK claims it has a strong competitive advantage in hydrogen and ammonia production technologies, alongside onboard bateries and electric engines.

In March 2021, the government launched the £20 million Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition which aims to accelerate the design and development of zero-emission vessels in the UK and will lay the foundations for a network of technology demonstrations, fast-tracking maritime decarbonisation.

The country also seeks to establish a UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK-SHORE) — a dedicated unit within the Department for Transport focused on decarbonising the maritime sector.

With UK-SHORE, the UK aims to position itself among leaders in the design and manufacturing of clean maritime technologies and fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia.

Several years ago, a programme was launched to develop the world’s first sea-going vehicle and passenger ferry to employ carbon-neutral hydrogen as its energy source, with the UK firms as participants in the programme. The program is now in its final development stage, HySeas III.

The zero-emission ferry will be fuelled by hydrogen produced from local renewable energy sources in and around the Scottish Isles and operate in and around Orkney.

The HySeas project is supported by approximately £10.8 million in funding, of which £8 million is provided by the European Union Horizon 2020 programme.

“Hydrogen won’t decarbonise maritime alone”

When speaking about hydrogen as a sustainable fuel, the main challenge is the cost as well as the easiness to store energy on board from the technical point of view.

As already mentioned, hydrogen can be used in multiple ways either in fuel cells or via combustion in internal combustion engines. Pure hydrogen being the basic element of all hydrogen-based fuels is the cheapest fuel. It is, however, not the easiest to store compared with other fuels that are made from hydrogen which have a better volumetric energy density.

According to a paper issued by Hydrogen Europe in June this year, the relatively low volumetric energy density of hydrogen is, next to production costs, the biggest techno-economical barrier for large-scale adoption of hydrogen in maritime applications. Another barrier is that ports are unwilling to invest in alternative fuels storage and bunkering infrastructure.

Having said this, it is clear that hydrogen cannot be the only solution to decarbonise the shipping sector.

“Government plans for a hydrogen economy will help steer our ships in a green direction, but won’t take us the full distance,” Sarah Kenny, Maritime UK Chair — the collective voice for the UK’s maritime industries, said commenting on the UK Hydrogen Strategy.

“While it could be a solution for long sea vessels, and could produce ammonia – a zero emissions fuel easy to transport and store over long distances – other technologies will be needed with co-investment from industry and government, for hydrogen won’t decarbonise maritime alone.”

“This includes shore power, which no country has introduced without government support. It’s a proven technology which could cut emissions in ports today and charge tomorrow’s Teslas of the seas, but we need £200million to build a viable network across the coast.”

Maritime associations in the UK have urged the government to support shore power and cut emissions from ships as other governments already did. However, there is still a lack of government support for this type of clean energy which is seen as a key part of the decarbonization solution for the sector.

“This is a step in the right direction from government but more co-investment in the industry will be needed for maritime – and by extension, the country – to reach Net Zero.”

“This is why we are calling for £1billion to kickstart a world-leading decarbonisation programme as part of the government’s upcoming Spending Review this Autumn,” Kenny concluded.