Hopes UK’s largest inland hydrogen cluster could support 110000 jobs
East Midlands Airport is joining a group of organisations including Cadent, Uniper and Toyota to develop the UK's largest inland hydrogen cluster – which could eventually support an estimated 110,00 jobs.
The Castle Donington airport has signed up to East Midlands Hydrogen – a partnership which formally launches tomorrow (Friday, September 22) which also includes D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, Midlands Engine and East Midlands Freeport.
The plan is for it to meet demand for what is billed as the fuel of the future through a new hydrogen pipeline, which the backers say could bring economic and environmental benefits to the region.
It is hoped the cluster will meet forecast demand from around 70 industrial sites in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and northern Leicestershire, which are all planning to go green by replacing traditional fossil fuel with hydrogen by 2040.
The Midlands Engine says that for those 70 sites access to hydrogen would enable carbon savings of 1.9 million tonnes a year – equal to the carbon emissions from 860,000 homes.
A PwC report set for publication next month estimates that a hydrogen supply chain in the East Midlands could contribute £10 billion to the regional economy and create or support 110,000 jobs by 2050.
Airport management say interest in the use of hydrogen for the aviation sector continues to grow, and estimate that the site could see a demand for around 700,000 litres of liquid hydrogen a day by 2050 – the year the global aviation industry has set to reach net zero.
East Midlands Airport is the UK’s biggest dedicated air cargo hub moving more than 400,000 tonnes of goods a year. It also attracts 4.5 million passengers in an average year, and has more than 8,000 workers on site.
It has a target of net zero carbon operations by 2038.
The launch of East Midlands Hydrogen is to take place tomorrow at the Toyota plant in Burnaston, near Derby.
Adam Freeman, who heads the airport’s environment strategy, will speak at the EM Hydrogen launch event.
He said: “The UK aviation industry has set out a really bold commitment, the first in the world to commit to net zero by 2050.
“As part of that we see a number of measures which help to remove carbon from flying. We can see the role of hydrogen to decarbonise flight through hybrid electric, hydrogen propulsion and direct combustion of hydrogen.
“Through the work we did with the Fly Zero project, we see a demand in about 2050 of up to 700,000 litres of liquid hydrogen a day here at EMA.”
The Midlands Engine says the East Midlands region is perfectly set up for large-scale low carbon hydrogen production through electrolysis.
Previously known as ‘Megawatt Valley’, its high voltage electrical transmission power lines were originally constructed to enable power export from the string of coal-fired power stations built along the river Trent.
The Midlands Engine says available water from the river, coupled with imported renewable energy could enable ‘Megawatt Valley’ to metamorphose into a hydrogen production heartland on a vast GW scale, with multiple forecasts received for a total of 500MW production capacity across the region.
By connecting supply and demand through a new 100 per cent hydrogen pipeline network, the region could become the UK’s largest inland hydrogen cluster.