Understanding barriers to investment in hydrogen infrastructure, and identifying solutions

The challenge

Hydrogen, when burned in air, produces water vapour rather than CO2. Produced by electrolysis of water using excess renewable power, ‘green’ hydrogen potentially has a range of specialised roles in a zero-carbon energy system. These include delivering energy to settings where electrification is not possible or practical; forming part of a diversified approach to domestic heating to help manage times of high demand; and as a storage medium for energy to be used when needed.

A future hydrogen economy would require substantial investment in infrastructure to enable its production, distribution and storage. Initial work to develop the necessary regulatory and legal framework suggested that businesses considering investment in UK hydrogen infrastructure projects were concerned about perceived complexities in the planning process, and may choose to invest overseas instead. A greater understanding of regulatory barriers to investment and possible solutions to these, and of the idea that it is easier to invest in infrastructure projects abroad, was therefore needed.

What we did

Our research for DESNZ began with a review of the planning processes and approaches across the UK and in three adjacent jurisdictions of interest (Germany, the Netherlands and Canada), to provide an understanding of processes in other countries. Alongside this, we conducted a review of 10 papers from the academic and grey literature on the barriers to investment related to the planning process in the UK and elsewhere, and four scoping interviews with government and industry stakeholders.

Then the main-stage fieldwork comprised 25 one-hour interviews with individuals with experience of submitting planning applications for hydrogen projects and individuals within Local Planning Authorities who were overseeing planning applications for hydrogen projects. All these participants were shown and commented on process maps for planning pathways that we developed from the initial phase findings.

Eight participants were then invited to reconvened workshops with DESNZ attendees to discuss potential solution areas.

What we found

As anticipated, significant concerns with the wider planning process in the UK emerged, and specifically in connection with the level of novelty and complexity that hydrogen projects would entail (and therefore the time and resources required to prepare and navigate the process), as well as resource constraints in examining bodies and other statutory consultees.

The most appealing short-term solutions were therefore those aimed at making processes more efficient, flexible and joined-up, and at supporting the ‘translation’ of general guidance in specific use cases. Longer term, participants called for increased funding to provide for more central or ideally local resource to advise on and review submissions.

Overall, there was a considerable appetite among participants from the entire range of organisations covered in the research for ambitious changes to the planning process for hydrogen projects – and many were pleased at the acknowledgement of this need from the Government.