OGA study sees hydrogen growth potential linked to southern North Sea gas

Offshore staff

LONDON – The Bacton Area around the Norfolk coast in eastern England could become a significant hydrogen production site, according to the UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).

Last December the Authority commissioned Progressive Energy to analyze hydrogen demand in Bacton and southeast England and the hydrogen generation potential, including the requirements for future hydrocarbon production and repurposing of infrastructure for this to happen.

Blue hydrogen will be the most commercially viable option in the 2030s and early 2040s, the OGA said, providing time for the evolution of green hydrogen technology and allowing it to become more cost competitive on an industrial scale by the late 2040s/early 2050s.

The UK southern North Sea has sufficient hydrocarbon reserves to provide the feedstock needed for increasing blue hydrogen demand.

Blue hydrogen generation could also make use of the region’s existing hydrocarbon infrastructure and CO₂ storage, with green hydrogen used to re-deploy constrained wind energy.

But action is needed now to ensure continued near-term production and development of natural gas, both to protect existing infrastructure and to ensure feedstock availability for blue hydrogen.

Otherwise, the OGA warned, infrastructure could be prematurely decommissioned and hydrocarbon opportunities lost.

03/23/2021