Hydrogen for a Net Zero GB An Integrated Energy Market Perspective

Our new independent report finds that hydrogen can play an important role in UK’s ambitious decarbonisation plan and boost its global industrial competitiveness.
Key insights from this new analysis include:

• New independent report from Aurora Energy Research shows that hydrogen can meet up to half of Great Britain’s (GB) final energy demand by 2050, providing an important pathway to reaching UK’s ambitious Net Zero targets.
• The report concludes that both blue hydrogen (produced from natural gas after reforming to remove carbon content) and green hydrogen (produced by using power to electrolyse water) are expected to play an important role, providing up to 480TWh of hydrogen, or c.45% of GB’s final energy demand by 2050.
• All Net Zero scenarios require substantial growth in low-carbon generation such as renewables and nuclear. Large-scale hydrogen adoption could help to integrate renewables into the power system by reducing the power sector requirement for flexibility during peak winter months, and boosting revenues for clean power generators by c. £3bn per year by 2050.
• The rollout of hydrogen could accelerate green growth and enable the development of globally competitive low-carbon industrial clusters while utilising UK’s competitive advantage on carbon capture.
• In facilitating the identification of a cost-effective hydrogen pathway, there are some low-regret options for Government to explore, including the stimulation of hydrogen demand in key sectors, the deployment of CCS in strategic locations and the standardisation of networks. These initiatives could form an important part of the UK Government’s post-COVID stimulus plan.