By Kevin Mullan
Copyright derryjournal
The city has been identified as a potential suitable location for the production of synthetic fuels using green hydrogen by researchers at the Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy (CASE), Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and Economic, Planning and Environmental Consultants Ltd (EPEC). Researchers believe Derry could be linked to Scottish turbines, which could then split water into oxygen and hydrogen by a process known as electrolysis. A detailed new analysis points to the System Operator for NI’s (SONI) proposals for the development of the electricity grid here, which has Derry well placed. “Examination of the plan shows that Derry/Londonderry could also be a suitable location for an e-fuels/e-chemicals business as it has a harbour for shipment, a good grid connection and the potential to connect into a wind farm that is probably located in Scottish waters,” according to the authors of Hydrogen in Northern Ireland: Future Costs, Challenges and Implications. The paper – commissioned by the Department for the Economy – suggests Derry could be a centre for the production, storage and export of synthetic fuels, produced using green hydrogen. “It makes more sense to ship these, as they are generally easier to handle and denser, than hydrogen. But this may create a need for storage, notably bunkering fuel for shipping. “Could Larne, Belfast or Derry/Londonderry perhaps establish itself as a marketplace for these fuels? There is an existing analogous use in that the Kilroot oil bunkers now hold Ireland’s strategic oil reserve. “A Northern Ireland key use might then have little to do with domestic demand for hydrogen or its derived synthetic fuels, being based instead on serving external and international needs,” the authors state. The paper says proposed off-shore wind farms could be used to power large electrolysers at a location such as Derry. This will generate hydrogen and oxygen from water, as feedstocks for the production of a potential e-fuel manufacturing industry in the city. “These windfarms would be another essential component of hydrogen’s future in NI as the electricity they provide are essential to power the size of electrolysers required for NI’s long-term energy storage and/or any future e-fuels/e-chemicals industry. “Alternative options, such as using a windfarm in Scottish Waters to power an electrolyser/e-fuels business in Derry/ Londonderry or specific hydrogen projects co-located with a biorefinery are probably best developer led to reflect the need for commercial funding of a realistic business case,” the paper says. The report concludes that there are two potentially viable large-scale, future uses of green hydrogen in the North: energy storage and the production of e-fuels/e-chemicals. Storage would involve hydrogen being reserved in large salt caverns north of Belfast. E-chemical production could take place in Derry but, the author’s state, the success of such an industry would depend on cost-competitiveness in comparison to other international producers. The new paper was produced as part of the Department for the Economy’s Open Call for research in July 2024. DfE sought energy related research proposals to provide additional evidence for policy areas. Major aviation report identifies Derry as ideal for new air hub that could create hundreds of jobs
