Maritime certification company Lloyd’s Register has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with H2 Terminals and several supply chain partners to explore using green hydrogen to decarbonise the Thames Estuary region.
Alongside supply chain partners HiDROGEN and D3IM, the parties will collaborate in the fields of floating hydrogen production and transport and identify regulatory requirements, including safety cases and risk assessments, for the development of an offshore island and supply chain that will provide green power to businesses on the Thames Estuary and River.
Green hydrogen has often been touted as a potential zero-emission fuel source in the maritime sector, alongside other hard-to-abate industries, including aviation. As such, this new agreement will explore the potential future of the energy carrier and its role in the UK net zero journey.
The plans include developing a wind, wave, and solar energy play situated 100km offshore. The hydrogen produced from the floating island will then be converted into a liquid state and transported by ship to a terminal on the Thames Estuary near London.
From the terminal, the hydrogen is transferred to floating barges, where it will be converted into electricity and hot water. Other byproducts of the process include liquid nitrogen and oxygen, both of which can be used for medical purposes, thus providing a boost to the healthcare sector as well.
Battery energy storage assets installed on the barges will store the electricity whilst it travels to its point of use.
The project, together with the businesses it will support, is part of the private sector-led action plan of the Thames Estuary Growth Board. The goal is to attract investment and development to the Thames Estuary area.
Hydrogen storage and transportation a key area of the project
Green hydrogen has long been a difficult technology to transport. Several methods have been explored but the global industry appears to be focussing on conversion into ammonia and liquid hydrogen, both of which can prove substantially more effective when factoring in intercontinental exports and imports.
For this purpose, the green hydrogen reaches its liquidised state by being cooled to −253°C. This, therefore, needs specialised equipment to maintain its liquified state.
To help aid research in this department, the MoU includes a formal assessment of technology, including the development of asset designs, qualification of containment systems, and floating hydrogen production and floating energy export systems. Assets planned for this project include approved materials capable of holding and insulating the green liquid H2 at -253C.
Furthermore, the MoU will also define an assurance programme for floating hydrogen production, hydrogen ships, classification and energy export systems.
Mark Tipping, Power to X director at Lloyd’s Register, said: “This project is an example of how shipping can support governments’ ambitions to decarbonise their supply chains and generate growth for their regional and national economies. This ambitious green hydrogen project, underpinned by the combined expertise of LR, H2 Terminals, HiDROGEN and D3IM, will help create a sustainable logistics network along the River Thames and lay the foundations for industry to develop.”
