“There is a real strength in the region already, with the innovations that are taking place… There is a massive opportunity.”
This is the message from Wales & West Utilities head of net zero and sustainability Matthew Hindle.
The gas infrastructure business has invested £2.2m over the past year in energy system transition projects. The latest innovation report from WWU aims to push forward the national conversation on how innovation can drive efforts to decarbonise our energy system.
Within the report the Newport-headquartered firm launched 19 projects across the South West and Wales. It said a total of 38 projects are planned for the rest of the year and moving into 2024.
One project that could witness a huge economic and employment boost to the South West is hydrogen in aviation.
The aviation sector currently contributes to 2.5% of global CO2 emissions and 7% of 海角视频 greenhouse gas emissions. The South West is home to leading aerospace businesses. Mr Hindle believes this project has provided scope on how gas networks can support the decarbonisation of the sector using hydrogen.
Mr Hindle told BusinessLive : “What we are excited about is the potential to make a real difference and the opportunity that we have through the work we are doing is to ensure that we have low carbon solutions for every sector that rely on gas and rely on the role that gas plays in the energy system.”
Most Read
The WWU head explained how gas currently underpins the energy system. “We carry three times more energy through the gas system than any other each year,” he said.
“It plays that underpinning role in making sure that we have secure, reliable independent energy supplies. So our projects are focussed on how we build on that strength to develop a decarbonised system that offers the solutions that consumers need and offers choice in areas like domestic heating, decarbonisation of industry, and in power generation.”
Mr Hindle told us that there has been “a lot” of recognition that the South West in particular could be a leader and a hotspot for researching a decarbonised future.
In particular, the region has a strength in aerospace. The Hydrogen 海角视频 Champion report in 2022 recognised the region’s cluster centred around aviation.
The region is home to around 15 aerospace companies. This month some of these companies joined the Hydrogen in Aviation Alliance.
Airbus, Bristol Airport and GKN Aerospace joined companies including EasyJet and Rolls-Royce to call on the Government to invest in a 10-year research programme, support the delivery of infrastructure and ensure that the right regulations are in place for the development of hydrogen in aviation.
Mr Hindle said: “We can’t rely on electrification alone, we need to replace the role of net gas, replace the role of other fuels in areas like aerospace and we think hydrogen has got a massive role to play meeting the scale and urgency of that challenge.”
'Hydrogen could create up to 40,000 new jobs and bring up to £62bn of investment'
Don’t miss
To deliver the potential of hydrogen companies are seeking to demonstrate its potential through different technologies and solutions.
“In the work that we did around the potential for hydrogen in aviation we set out that hydrogen can play a role directly in decarbonising flights through the use of hydrogen in fuel cells on aircraft. But it can also play a role in producing sustainable aviation fuel in a law carbon way as well.
“We don’t know exactly what the final mix of those technologies will be but that research and the development effort will help us to unlock those questions and find the right decarbonised solutions along the way.”
Mr Hindle added: “The overall framework is there in terms of policy support for low carbon; recognising the role low carbon hydrogen, recognising the role that that can play. What we need is to get those projects off the ground and have confidence that this is going to be delivered so that we can develop the industries of the future and support jobs in those sectors across the region.”
It is thought that hydrogen could create up to 40,000 new jobs and bring up to £62bn of investment to Wales and the South West.
According to the WWU report other benefits include the retention of a further 60,000 jobs, the development of new future-proofed skill sets and retraining opportunities for up to 108,000 workers, plus capital investment opportunities between £8bn and £62bn for the local economy.
Using hydrogen can also save between 16,000 and 21,000 kilo tonnes of carbon emissions by 2050.
Mr Hindle told BusinessLive that from WWU’s Hydrogen in Aviation Report the company found in the early stages there may only be a “relatively” small demand for hydrogen as they start the projects at, for example airports. However he expects the demand to expand and said WWU should have confidence to be able to make early decisions and investments with a view to scaling up the role that hydrogen can cross earn in the energy system.
He added: “We are always looking as well to better understand how those demands will evolve because we can see that there is going to be demand for hydrogen; we can see that it’s going to be part of this dual fuel system, provides resilience and provides what businesses and consumers need. But the more we can understand where businesses are going to transition, how they want to work with us as an infrastructure provider the stronger those plans will be. Working with others is the core to this.”
Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox.