How These Tangible Progress Measures can Help Develop the Hydrogen Economy

Few local authorities have active hydrogen projects underway in their constituencies and even fewer can boast of projects the size of the Low Carbon Energy Park being developed in Trafford, Manchester.?

The Trafford Low Carbon Energy Park is bringing together a trinity of developments, consisting of a green hydrogen production facility, Li-ion battery energy storage scheme and the liquid air storage plant in partnership with Highview.?

Cllr Tom Ross , Leader of Trafford Council, expressed his excitement for the recent progress being made and making best use of existing infrastructure. “It is great to make such significant progress since the funding decisions were made at the end of 2023. It will not only have a huge impact in Trafford but also as part of the wider GM energy network and things we are doing from a green city region perspective.”?

Tangible and measurable impacts of progress ease nascence concerns?

From a constituent and industry perspective, first-of-a-kind and other new developments come with a myriad of questions, not least those asking how progress will be measured.?

Tracking the progress of projects such as this can be difficult, especially when there is little in the way of comparison with previous ways of working.?

James Harries , Head of Climate Change and Sustainability at Trafford Council picked up on this difficulty by explaining: “There are emissions statistics produced every year by the government, but the challenge here is that they are always two years in arrears.”?

“However, this information is still relevant to use, but you really have to dig and unpick to understand what the data is showing us. Correlation doesn’t always mean causation so we’ve got to be careful when drawing conclusions.

“We produce a broad swath of data that allows for people to see this type of data on a deeper scale.”

To do this, Trafford Council has the Trafford Data lab which allows for this data analysis and transparency. It can show what is happening on a quarterly level, the energy efficiency of homes, amount of EV installations etc.?

That provides transparency and allows people across Trafford to understand what is happening and see the progress being made in this field. This is shareable with other local authorities which boosts the collaboration effort that is often coupled with growing a hydrogen economy.?????

Existing Infrastructure makes the North West particularly appealing

With this traditional difficulty overcome with the above practices, the use of existing infrastructure can help with space constraints.?

On this, Trafford was highlighted as being particularly well located because the area has several industrial sites which are able to take green hydrogen without extensive modification to decarbonise their operations, which otherwise rely on natural gas.?

Further to this, it is well placed to serve commercial and residential applications in central Manchester, once the project is scaled up and these applications become hydrogen ready.

The hydrogen produced by the initial 20 MW plant will reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere in Manchester by over 14,000 tonnes annually.?

Cllr Ross told Hydrogen Industry Leaders: “Joining projects like this together and focussing on the hydrogen aspect specifically, it really shows how dynamic thinking can push projects over the line and shows that Trafford, and Greater Manchester can create a blueprint for the rest of the country.

“This works with our wider strategies, we’ve got a current corporate plan with low-carbon technologies central to that. By summer 2024, we will bring additional aspects into the updated corporate plan.?

“At a Greater Manchester level we are creating a local area energy plan, biodiversity and other areas where green hydrogen can be explored.”?

Tapping into geographical nuances should be the first step to developing hydrogen?

In a geographical sense, planning the location of such projects can be a minefield, but Greater Manchester’s good transport links, ample space and pre-existing infrastructure were key factors in the decision making.?

James added to this: “What’s interesting about Trafford is that it has a relatively unique emissions footprint when you look across the whole borough, and for most local authorities that you look at the key emission sources are domestic buildings and transport but for Trafford it is industry.?

“Trafford Park itself accounts for over half of our industry emissions for the whole borough. Decarbonising this area is integral on our route to net zero.”?

“If you look at the emissions profile across Greater Manchester, Trafford really stands out through its unique position.”

If this unique position can be capitalised on through the use of hydrogen; it could prove a benchmark for other more industrial regions of the UK, including the Humber, East Midlands and other areas in the North.?

“It [hydrogen] is a really important part of a portfolio of decarbonisation measures, and the Trafford Park projects are a testament to that and the great collaboration we are seeing in the sector.”?

“Hydrogen is more of a longer-term solution and strategy with the nascency of green hydrogen but that’s why the shorter and more medium-term technologies are just as important. Trafford Park catering for all these needs sets us in good stead for the future.”??

Supporting a stronger roll out of green hydrogen involves looking at the low-hanging fruit of energy efficiency in the short term, then more medium-term support with solar PV and more technology-driven measures.?

At this point hydrogen can play a much larger and targeted role alongside other technologies such as deep thermal and the work Trafford is doing has the same technology pathway.?

In isolation, these projects will help decarbonise on a smaller scale, but combining them with other projects on a larger scale enables a hub of low-carbon technology. This is where combined authorities can help both prove business cases for low-carbon technology and offer best practice.?

Cllr Ross added: “Taking this a step forward we also have the Green City Region project; which has its own leadership team and direction.

“As part of that, the Trafford Energy Park is part of a bigger picture, so we come together and collaborate with other authorities but also with the private sector such as Carlton Power in this instance.”