| |DECEMBER 20249E ERGYTech ReviewTo preserve the North West's role as an industrial powerhouse whilst reducing the sector's emissions and delivering on the UK's net zero targets, HyNet is pivotalThe hydrogen technology is world-leading, with capture rates of 97% and efficiency ratings of over 85%. Early construction of this facility will unlock hydrogen distribution and storage infrastructure, enabling the build-out of wider electrolytic hydrogen projects such as those being developed by Grenian Hydrogen. Inovyn will establish underground salt cavern storage facilities capable of holding 1300GWh of hydrogen­equivalent to the energy stored if we converted all UK passenger cars to battery-electric vehicles. And we will build over 100km of new hydrogen pipelines to distribute the clean hydrogen to where it is needed. Kelloggs, Heineken, Heinz, PepsiCo plan to use the hydrogen to produce low-carbon food and drink products; Essity will manufacture low-carbon personal care products; Novelis intends to use hydrogen to reduce the carbon intensity of their aluminium recycling process; and Unilever has demonstrated the use of hydrogen to manufacture low-carbon household products­to name a few. There are wider system benefits too, with ESB Carrington planning to use the hydrogen to provide power market flexibility services. The final picture is comprehensive. HyNet will ultimately play a key role in decarbonising industry, homes and businesses­as well as providing low-carbon fuel for heavy transport in the region by 2030.And this model is entirely replicable, something we are already starting to demonstrate in the other industrial clusters around our region, for example, with projects in the East and South East of England.However, we do not need to wait until 2030 to see the benefits of HyNet. They are already being delivered. Pilkington operates a glass factory in the North West, where raw ingredients are heated to around 1,600 degrees centigrade. In a world-first trial, Pilkington converted this furnace to run on hydrogen to demonstrate it could run safely at full production without impacting product quality. This successful trial was a key step in Pilkington's plans to decarbonise and could see a transition to using hydrogen to power all production at the site. Such a switch would mean that the float glass furnace­which accounts for most of the company's overall carbon emissions­would be able to run with hugely lower emissions.The dual challenge I presented at the start­to preserve the North West's role as an industrial powerhouse whilst reducing the sector's emissions and delivering on the UK's net zero targets-HyNet is pivotal in meeting it. And when we deliver this project, the benefits are going to be significant. We'll save 10m tonnes of carbon each year by 2030, equivalent to taking 4m cars off the road. We will deliver nearly 50% of the UK's clean hydrogen production target in just one project, 80% of the UK's clean power target for transport, industry and heat by the same point, and help secure the region's economic future, creating £17bn of value locally and £31bn nationally, including 6,000 local jobs and up to 75,000 jobs in the wider economy.
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