A multi-million pound ‘supercluster’ co-led by the University of Bath has been launched to position the West of England as the UK’s hydrogen powerhouse.
The far-reaching project brings together academic, civic and industry leaders to unlock the huge potential of the region’s hydrogen ecosystem.
Harnessing clean green hydrogen to decarbonise the region’s transport, energy and storage & distribution sectors could support up to 100,000 jobs by 2050, experts predict.
The Great Western Supercluster of Hydrogen Impact for Future Technologies (GW-SHIFT) aims to be a key enabler of these priorities, supporting the UK transition to green hydrogen production and net zero by 2050.
Over the next four years, GW-SHIFT will support innovative research and activities to create a thriving low carbon hydrogen supercluster in the region.
It will build on the South West’s unique strengths and emerging hydrogen ecosystem, which, along with South Wales, already boasts the highest concentration of net zero economy businesses in the UK.
The region is also home to the world’s leading aerospace cluster outside of the US, which is backing hydrogen as a future fuel source for long-haul flight, as well as a number of existing hydrogen-linked innovation projects.
Green hydrogen, which is produced by electrolysis powered by renewable sources such as wind, water or solar, is increasingly being viewed as a viable source of clean energy, particularly in heavy-use sectors such as freight transport and distribution and possibly also mass passenger transport.
GW-SHIFT has already secured £2.5m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Researchers from the University of Bath will work alongside academics from the universities of Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Swansea, South Wales and Plymouth. They will be joined by 25 civic and industry partners, who are contributing more than £1.5m in additional funds and in-kind support.
Among these organisations is the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), which helped secure the £2.5m funding.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris, pictured above, who leads WECA, said GW-SHIFT would boost existing plans to make the West of England a leader in zero-emission and hydrogen innovation.
“Hydrogen is one important solution to our climate problems – it’s powerful and there’s lots of it,” he added.
“The potential when it comes to slashing emissions in those hard-to-decarbonise sectors like transport, and others, is huge.”
WECA has also secured investment of more than £2.5m for the region’s first green hydrogen plant at the University of Bath’s Institute of Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS), on the Bristol & Bath Science Park, along with other funding for its trailblazing hydrogen-related work.
GW-SHIFT principal investigator Prof Tim Mays, pictured above, from the University of Bath, said: “GW-SHIFT will develop as a place-based supercluster to accelerate the impact of research and innovation in sustainable hydrogen technologies in the South West of England and South Wales to secure the UK’s net zero carbon emissions target for 2050.
“All partners are incredibly excited to be involved and look forward to working together over the next four years and beyond.”
A number of the UK’s most important research and development facilities looking into hydrogen are already in the West of England, including the National Composites Centre, also on the Bristol & Bath Science Park, which hosts the £10m, WECA-funded Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation programme.
Others include aerospace giant Airbus’s ZEROe Development Centre on its plant at Filton, which is investigating fuel systems for Airbus’ electric and hydrogen-propulsion technologies, and the £32m GKN Global Technology Centre, also at Filton, which is acting as a world-class centre for innovative technology for the next generation of zero-emission aircraft.
In July a national research hub led by the University of Bath was awarded £11m to help the UK reach net zero by harnessing the power of hydrogen and alternative liquid fuels.
The funding, from the government’s UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) organisation, aims to make UK-HyRES, the UK Hub for Research Challenges in Hydrogen and Alternative Liquid Fuels, a global centre of excellence in hydrogen research.
This will include delivering practical hydrogen and alternative liquid fuel technologies that are safe and environmentally, economically and socially sustainable.
A month earlier a major report by the Western Gateway – the pan-regional partnership that stretches from Swindon to Swansea – concluded that up to 40,000 jobs could be created and a further 60,000 safeguarded across the West of England and South Wales if they embraced the hydrogen revolution.
It also suggested that between 16,000 and 21,000 kilo tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions could be saved by 2050 by using the zero-emission fuel to decarbonise transport, commerce and power.
