3 major challenges in the hydrogen economy in 2025 – and some potential solutions

3 major challenges in the hydrogen economy in 2025 – and some potential solutions

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 reshaped global energy markets. Now, more than three years later, the tentative prospect of peace could do the same.

Significant American involvement in that process might once have allayed fears for British energy security – but in the shifting geopolitical sands of the second Trump presidency, it means more uncertainty for now.

Those concerns, and the ongoing need to accelerate net zero, formed the backdrop to IMechE’s Engineering a Hydrogen Economy event, held this week (4-5 March) at the Millennium Point conference centre in Birmingham.

Harry Brazier, policy lead for hydrogen to power at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), while Amanda Lyne, chair of the Hydrogen Energy Association, said:

The potential to support energy independence with electrolytic hydrogen is becoming more pertinent every day,

“Energy security in the here and now must be one of our biggest routes to… create a safe world”.

Building that world will be far from easy, with a number of significant challenges remaining to be solved – and not much time to solve them.

Lyne as she opened the event, said:

Historical energy transitions have probably taken between 100 and 130 years,

“Because we didn’t act 50 years ago, when we started to know we were causing this problem, we now only have 25 years, if we believe in 2050 being the target and the tipping point.”

Here are three of the challenges discussed at the event – and some potential solutions.

Challenge: The high cost of zero-carbon hydrogen

Potential solution: Nuclear-enabled production

Hydrogen could have a significant role in the net zero transition, offering a way to store and transport low-carbon energy and prevent emissions at point of use. But Lyne said:

The elephant in the room is how we pay for it all, particularly as we need to do it fast,

Electrolytic hydrogen is currently expensive, costing an average £241/MWh in the government’s first Hydrogen Allocation Round, compared with the £143/MWh cost of electricity in February.

Cost of energy generation is “one of the big issues in the UK”, said Mark Griffin, head of hydrogen market development at Scottish Power, despite “great renewable assets and resources”. Those high costs mean some people look abroad for cheaper sources of energy.

He said,

It is a challenge, and we have to address that,

Production of ‘blue’ fossil fuel-based hydrogen with carbon capture and storage (CCS) will ramp up in the UK from 2030, according to the recent Energy Transition Outlook reportfrom classification and risk management organisation DNV, as the technology becomes more competitive with government backing. Grid-connected electrolysis is set to grow from 2035, according to the same report, displacing CCS-enabled hydrogen as the main production pathway by 2043.

Hari Vamadevan, DNV regional director of energy systems in the UK and Ireland, said:

From the most expensive… it becomes the cheapest,

“Why? Because you’ve got so much installed renewable capacity that there are times it’s almost free – and other times it’s relatively cheap.”

In the meantime, there are also less widely discussed options that some organisations hope could reduce the cost of low-carbon hydrogen. Energy company EDF, for example, is exploring nuclear-enabled hydrogen production with projects including the Bay Hydrogen Hub.

The process involves

Stephen Tutin, strategic and commercial manager at EDF, said:

using electricity and heat from a nuclear power station, combined with innovative electrolysing technologies – such as a solid oxide electrolysis – to create fundamentally cheaper, more efficient hydrogen production,

“We think this is a way of driving down costs… But also nuclear science has a lot of infrastructure in place already: grid connections, utilities, road, rail connections, all of that stuff to help accelerate the project.”

By using existing technology, Tutin said the process could achieve costs of about £6 per kilogram of hydrogen, down from roughly £9.50 in the Hydrogen Allocation Round.

He said,

That represents a significant saving,

If developed further, he claimed it could reach about £3.50 by 2035.

Challenge: ‘Nimby’ opposition to projects

Potential solutions: Picking the right locations – and public messaging

Safety was a major topic of debate during the first day of the event. While engineering innovation and regulations will tackle risks as the hydrogen economy expands, public perception – and, within that, the threat of ‘nimbyism’ – also needs to be managed.

Thankfully, a panel of the morning’s speakers highlighted some potential solutions. Brazier at DESNZ said that the new jobs created by projects could go a long way to securing acceptance, while building hydrogen facilities in areas with industrial heritage – such as Pembrokeshire in South Wales – could also be an important route to overcoming nimbyism.

Working with communities that are more open to change could be an important early step, agreed Professor Sara Walker, co-director of the Birmingham Energy Institute.

She said,

The perceptions of the public close to those facilities are very different to other places that aren’t right next to oil refineries or wind farms, or whatever it might be,

“Working with those communities that are more amenable to change and to having infrastructure on their doorstep could be an easier step to take.”

Others stressed the need for more public education if hydrogen is to be widely deployed.

Aisling Brazel, senior process engineer at energy company RES, said:

We need to be very much on the front foot with regards to tackling public perception in any areas that aren’t already industrialised,

Use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel offers an example of the kind of safety testing and research that can make energy vectors safe, said DNV’s Vamadevan.

He said,

It’s the same for hydrogen. We can make it safe, without question,

Frameworks available in the UK make it a great place to develop and prove hydrogen safety, he added, such as standards development at the company’s Spadeadam research and testing facility in Cumbria, including the biggest explosion chamber in the world and large-scale pipeline damage and rupture testing.

He said,

It’s important we take the evidence and then go and demonstrate it, just like we did for natural gas,

“I think it’s important that we’re out there putting the message out that it is as safe as others, if not safer. And once that message is out there, I think you can cut through.”

Challenge: The hydrogen skills gap

Potential solutions: Education, reskilling and careful use of AI

The event’s first day concluded with 10 simultaneous workshops tackling issues including infrastructure, aviation and other areas of interest, followed by an on-stage moderator discussion hosted by IMechE head of policy Matt Rooney. One of the workshops, led by consultant and IMechE management group committee member Tim Podesta, discussed the skills challenge facing the sector.

A recent assessment by the Hydrogen Skills Alliance found that the hydrogen economy will directly support 29,000 jobs and indirectly support another 64,500 by 2030, requiring a huge number of skilled workers.

Specific areas that will need to be addressed include cryogenic skills for hydrogen fuel handling in aviation, workshop attendees said. Little expertise is currently available worldwide, however, with further demand to come from other hydrogen-related sectors.

Due to the variety of technical and non-technical challenges to be solved, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to provide relevant skills – but participants stressed the need to think beyond solving individual problems, and to view them at a systems level.

They also called for more hydrogen education from a young age, complementing existing teaching on renewable energy and climate change.

Hydrogen-focused modules at university face the same issues as the rest of engineering, delegates said, with the need to attract students into the industry rather than other professions. They also called for more industry support of relevant apprenticeships, to help make training roles attractive and meet regional demands.

‘Reskilling’ – from mechanical to electrical engineering, for example – and fast-tracked conversion courses from oil and gas could also fill roles quickly.

Generative AI will likely have a part to play, attendees said, but they stressed the need for solid engineering skills and critical thinking to ensure the validity of results and avoid bias in outputs.  

READ the latest news shaping the hydrogen market at Hydrogen Central

3 major challenges in the hydrogen economy in 2025 – and some potential solutions, source

The post 3 major challenges in the hydrogen economy in 2025 – and some potential solutions appeared first on Hydrogen Central.