Centrica Business Solutions has increased its stake in HiiROC to 5% and said the two companies are preparing to work together to inject hydrogen into Centrica’s existing 49MW gas engine array at Brigg, Lincolnshire.
HiiROC produces hydrogen via an electrolysis process using thermal plasma. It says this can produce hydrogen at a comparable cost to steam methane reforming but without the emissions and using a fifth of the energy required by water electrolysis.
Brigg typically operates for less than three hours per day, meeting varying demand during peak times or when generation from renewables is low. Centrica said that the 12-month trial, which would start in Q3 2023, would see a mix of up to 3% hydrogen in the gas mix, increasing to 20% incrementally after the project.
Longer term, it said, the vision is to move towards 100% hydrogen and to deploy similar technology across all gas-fired peaking plant.
The project will be part funded by a grant from the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC).