Enabling or Requiring Hydrogen-ready Industrial Boiler Equipment: Call for Evidence, Summary of Responses

On 20 December 2021, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched a Call for Evidence (CfE) on enabling or requiring hydrogen-ready industrial boiler equipment. The aim was to gather evidence from a broad range of UK manufacturers, industrial end-users, supply chain participants and other experts to enable the development of proposals. The CfE was open for 12 weeks, closing on 14 March 2022. The CfE followed the publication of the UK Hydrogen Strategy on 17 August 2021. In the Strategy, government committed to run a CfE on hydrogen-ready industrial equipment by theend of 2022. The published CfE focussed on industrial boilers due to their widespread use, and because BEIS analysis indicates a significant proportion of the demand for hydrogen in industry will come from this equipment category. Furthermore, the technology required for hydrogen boilers is relatively advanced and more standardised than for other types of industrial
equipment. For these reasons, industrial boiler equipment presents a good test case for hydrogen-ready industrial equipment more broadly.
The CfE contained the following three sections:
• The opportunity for hydrogen-ready industrial boilers
• The role for government to support hydrogen-ready industrial boiler equipment
• The role of the supply chain and economic opportunities for the UK
Respondents were asked to support their answers with evidence relating to their business, product or sector, published literature studies, or to their broader expertise. To raise awareness of the CfE, BEIS officials held two online webinars on 1 February 2022 and 3 February 2022. These were open to boiler manufacturers, industrial end-users, supply chain participants, trade associations, professional bodies, and any other person(s) with an interest in the area.
To build on evidence gathered through the CfE, BEIS commissioned an independent study from Arup and Kiwa Gastec to further examine whether government should enable or require hydrogen-ready industrial boiler equipment. This study investigated the following topics:
• definitions of hydrogen-readiness for industrial boilers
• comparisons of the cost and resource requirement to install and convert hydrogen-ready industrial boiler equipment
• industrial boiler supply chain capacity for conversion to hydrogen
• estimates of the UK industrial boiler population
The final report for this study has been published alongside the government response to the call for evidence. The conclusions and recommendations of that report do not necessarily represent the view of BEIS.