The OGTC has extended its latest Call for Ideas and will invest £1mn in technologies that can accelerate hydrogen production, transportation, storage and utilisation.
On 12 May, it outlined how the call follows recent government announcements, highlighting the Scottish government’s Hydrogen Policy Statement and £10bn funding set out in the North Sea Transition Deal as particularly influential. Submissions must focus on technologies that will decarbonise offshore operations, help the UK to become the world’s first net zero basin and require academic R&D to accelerate development. The deadline for submissions is 14 June.
Specific areas of interest include optimising the production of blue hydrogen and bulk hydrogen transportation. The former would relate to innovation in low carbon hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage, with the main innovation gap involving the separation of hydrogen or carbon to improve yield and carbon capture. The latter relates to enabling effective transportation of renewable energy to utilisation and storage locations, with challenges including effective hydrogen carriers and pipeline repurposing.
Elsewhere, it is also looking for innovation technology ideas that focus on long-term hydrogen storage, enabling intermittent renewable electricity to become a round-the-clock resource on a path towards a carbon-free grid, and hydrogen/hydrogen carrier utilisation, where applications include power generation for offshore platforms and a transportation fuel for the marine sector.
Projects are expected to run between six to 12 months. Direct funding of up to £100,000 will be available to support academic delivered R&D for successful applications with the OGTC aiming to match this through both, or either, developer and industry contributions.
