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Hydrogen production in the energy transition: Exploring Protium Project Pioneer 1

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Hydrogen production in the energy transition: Exploring Protium Project Pioneer 1

Posted | Updated by Insights team:

Publication | Update:

Jun 2023
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Protium explores green hydrogen production in a case study of the Protium Project Pioneer 1, exploring carbon storage and net zero possibilities in energy

Hydrogen is widely seen as a critical component of a net zero future and has a key role to play in decarbonising sectors such as heavy transport and industrial processes.

It has seen a recent boom in interest, driven by the urgent need to tackle climate change, technological improvements, and the challenges faced by industries in decarbonising through electrification.

Is hydrogen the future of energy?

Hydrogen is already commonly used in industries, particularly in chemical processes. The dedicated production of hydrogen as an energy carrier is an emerging trend.

The speed by which demand has grown is nothing short of phenomenal, and it is only increasing, but this has led to two important questions – is it a sustainable solution, and where does it come from?

While it is very encouraging to see a desire for a greener future, it is important to consider how hydrogen is produced to ensure that there is a positive difference being made to a net zero future.

Today, most of the hydrogen in the UK and around the world is produced through a process called Steam Methane Reforming.

As the name suggests, methane (made from natural gas) is broken down by steam and heat into hydrogen and carbon dioxide, the latter being released into the atmosphere. Due to the emissions associated with this, it is often labelled “grey hydrogen”. If all hydrogen for future “green projects” was from “grey” sources, this would simply shift emissions from the point of use to the point of production.

The opportunities of carbon storage

Methods to capture and store carbon, commonly termed CCS for short, are being developed. When CCS is added downstream of the steam reforming process, the hydrogen can be labelled “blue”. However, this process is still not a zero-emission procedure, as not all carbon can be captured.

The best zero-emission method for hydrogen production is called electrolysis, where water is ‘split’ into its constituent parts using electricity. If the power is generated by renewables or nuclear power, there are no carbon emissions, and the hydrogen can be labelled “green” because there are no carbon emissions.

Currently, the availability of green hydrogen is very limited, but this is fast changing with companies like Protium leading the charge.

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Pioneering green hydrogen facilities and projects

There is a growing shift taking place towards green hydrogen, with production facilities being planned and developed across the UK.

Protium is one of the companies leading the way, having unveiled its first operational electrolyser earlier this year and with more projects already in development.

The Protium Pioneer electrolyser unit is the largest installation of Enapter AEM technology in the UK. Pioneer 1 consists of 40 Enapter electrolyser modules that can produce over 40kg of hydrogen per day. This is the equivalent to powering 13 cars for 350 km.

The electrolyser load can be adjusted to match the fluctuations and intermittence of the renewable power, while the hydrogen produced can be stored as a gas or liquid and consumed as and when the user needs it. Therefore hydrogen will be so important in a net zero future.

However, developing and implementing this kind of infrastructure is not without its pitfalls.

The impact of energy supply chain disruptions

The effects of the pandemic and ongoing war in Ukraine, coupled with a surge in demand for green hydrogen products have put a squeeze on the supply chain in nearly every area involved in the mechanical manufacturing of products.

There is evidence currently of costs increasing over 30% as well as lead times increasing over 100% in the space of a few weeks. From a developer’s perspective, this has put pressure on getting orders placed early and managing contracts to prevent cost overruns.

Managing inherent hydrogen safety

A key aspect of any project is ensuring that inherent safety is achieved within the design. By its nature, hydrogen is more flammable than natural gas. However, being a much lighter molecule, it also disperses faster.

Therefore, achieving adequate ventilation for a hydrogen system is a key challenge to prevent hydrogen from reaching its flammability limit (4% v/v in air). To achieve an inherently safe site, many key pieces of equipment should be deployed outside of containers to ensure maximum natural ventilation and to prevent hydrogen build-up.

Additionally, the hydrogen container for Pioneer 1 fitted with forced ventilation, ensures hydrogen can never reach its flammability limit. Explosion-proof equipment should also be used where needed.

Stakeholder engagement

Green hydrogen is a nascent industry, and many key stakeholders are unfamiliar with hydrogen in contrast to other fuel sources. The key takeaway is that educating stakeholders and the public about the benefits of green hydrogen as well as the setbacks, should be encouraged.

This will speed up the acceptance of green hydrogen and ultimately allow the general populace to appreciate the need for a quicker move towards a net zero emission future.

Extending the development of the UK hydrogen market

Project Pioneer 1, as well as all green hydrogen production projects, show the ongoing development of the UK hydrogen market.

Project Pioneer 1 demonstrates the importance of scaling up in the market from a smaller project. It also proves that with the required technology and processes, a blueprint can be created to aid in planning for larger-scale green hydrogen projects.

This means that outcomes will be delivered more quickly not only for companies like Protium, but, more importantly, for the wider hydrogen market.

Projects Pioneer 1 demonstrate that green hydrogen can be a viable decarbonising solution and it is a major step forward towards a net zero economy.

 

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Forecast methodology

The future outlook “forecast” is based on a set of statistical methods such as regression analysis, industry specific drivers as well as analyst evaluations, as well as analysis of the trends that influence economic outcomes and business decision making.
The Global Economic Model is covering the political environment, the macroeconomic environment, market opportunities, policy towards free enterprise and competition, policy towards foreign investment, foreign trade and exchange controls, taxes, financing, the labour market and infrastructure. We aim update our market forecast to include the latest market developments and trends.

Forecasts, Data modelling and indicator normalisation

Review of independent forecasts for the main macroeconomic variables by the following organizations provide a holistic overview of the range of alternative opinions:

  • Cambridge Econometrics (CE)

  • The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR)

  • Experian Economics (EE)

  • Oxford Economics (OE)

As a result, the reported forecasts derive from different forecasters and may not represent the view of any one forecaster over the whole of the forecast period. These projections provide an indication of what is, in our view most likely to happen, not what it will definitely happen.

Short- and medium-term forecasts are based on a “demand-side” forecasting framework, under the assumption that supply adjusts to meet demand either directly through changes in output or through the depletion of inventories.
Long-term projections rely on a supply-side framework, in which output is determined by the availability of labour and capital equipment and the growth in productivity.
Long-term growth prospects, are impacted by factors including the workforce capabilities, the openness of the economy to trade, the legal framework, fiscal policy, the degree of government regulation.

Direct contribution to GDP
The method for calculating the direct contribution of an industry to GDP, is to measure its ‘gross value added’ (GVA); that is, to calculate the difference between the industry’s total pre­tax revenue and its total bought­in costs (costs excluding wages and salaries).

Forecasts of GDP growth: GDP = CN+IN+GS+NEX

GDP growth estimates take into account:

  • Consumption, expressed as a function of income, wealth, prices and interest rates;

  • Investment as a function of the return on capital and changes in capacity utilization; Government spending as a function of intervention initiatives and state of the economy;

  • Net exports as a function of global economic conditions.

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Market Quantification
All relevant markets are quantified utilizing revenue figures for the forecast period. The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) within each segment is used to measure growth and to extrapolate data when figures are not publicly available.

Revenues

Our market segments reflect major categories and subcategories of the global market, followed by an analysis of statistical data covering national spending and international trade relations and patterns. Market values reflect revenues paid by the final customer / end user to vendors and service providers either directly or through distribution channels, excluding VAT. Local currencies are converted to USD using the yearly average exchange rates of local currencies to the USD for the respective year as provided by the IMF World Economic Outlook Database.

Industry Life Cycle Market Phase

Market phase is determined using factors in the Industry Life Cycle model. The adapted market phase definitions are as follows:

  • Nascent: New market need not yet determined; growth begins increasing toward end of cycle

  • Growth: Growth trajectory picks up; high growth rates

  • Mature: Typically fewer firms than growth phase, as dominant solutions continue to capture the majority of market share and market consolidation occurs, displaying lower growth rates that are typically on par with the general economy

  • Decline: Further market consolidation, rapidly declining growth rates

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The Global Economic Model
The Global Economic Model brings together macroeconomic and sectoral forecasts for quantifying the key relationships.

The model is a hybrid statistical model that uses macroeconomic variables and inter-industry linkages to forecast sectoral output. The model is used to forecast not just output, but prices, wages, employment and investment. The principal variables driving the industry model are the components of final demand, which directly or indirectly determine the demand facing each industry. However, other macroeconomic assumptions — in particular exchange rates, as well as world commodity prices — also enter into the equation, as well as other industry specific factors that have been or are expected to impact.

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Wherever possible, publicly available data from official sources are used for the latest available year. Qualitative indicators are normalised (on the basis of: Normalised x = (x - Min(x)) / (Max(x) - Min(x)) where Min(x) and Max(x) are, the lowest and highest values for any given indicator respectively) and then aggregated across categories to enable an overall comparison. The normalised value is then transformed into a positive number on a scale of 0 to 100. The weighting assigned to each indicator can be changed to reflect different assumptions about their relative importance.

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The principal explanatory variable in each industry’s output equation is the Total Demand variable, encompassing exogenous macroeconomic assumptions, consumer spending and investment, and intermediate demand for goods and services by sectors of the economy for use as inputs in the production of their own goods and services.

Elasticities
Elasticity measures the response of one economic variable to a change in another economic variable, whether the good or service is demanded as an input into a final product or whether it is the final product, and provides insight into the proportional impact of different economic actions and policy decisions.
Demand elasticities measure the change in the quantity demanded of a particular good or service as a result of changes to other economic variables, such as its own price, the price of competing or complementary goods and services, income levels, taxes.
Demand elasticities can be influenced by several factors. Each of these factors, along with the specific characteristics of the product, will interact to determine its overall responsiveness of demand to changes in prices and incomes.
The individual characteristics of a good or service will have an impact, but there are also a number of general factors that will typically affect the sensitivity of demand, such as the availability of substitutes, whereby the elasticity is typically higher the greater the number of available substitutes, as consumers can easily switch between different products.
The degree of necessity. Luxury products and habit forming ones, typically have a higher elasticity.
Proportion of the budget consumed by the item. Products that consume a large portion of the consumer’s budget tend to have greater elasticity.
Elasticities tend to be greater over the long run because consumers have more time to adjust their behaviour.
Finally, if the product or service is an input into a final product then the price elasticity will depend on the price elasticity of the final product, its cost share in the production costs, and the availability of substitutes for that good or service.

Prices
Prices are also forecast using an input-output framework. Input costs have two components; labour costs are driven by wages, while intermediate costs are computed as an input-output weighted aggregate of input sectors’ prices. Employment is a function of output and real sectoral wages, that are forecast as a function of whole economy growth in wages. Investment is forecast as a function of output and aggregate level business investment.

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