AQW 10845/17-22

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 24/11/2020
Answered On Date: 03/12/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure (i) what measures she is taking to consider future hydrogen fuel provision; and (ii) in order to create a sustainable waste water treatment system for Northern Ireland, what consideration she has made for NI Water to play a fundamental role in hydrogen production.

Answer:

My Department has sought to ensure that hydrogen technologies are at the forefront of the introduction of alternative fuels. Over the last few years, the Department has been represented on the Steering Committee of the GenComm project led by Belfast Met. This group has provided the platform for the successful bid to the Office for Low Emission Vehicles Hydrogen Transport Programme which provided £1.9m funding for the introduction of refuelling infrastructure and 3 Hydrogen Buses for the Translink fleet, matched by funding from Energia and DfI. Building on this NIH2 project, I have committed a further £50m to deliver 100 zero emission Translink buses, twenty of which could be powered by Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology.

NI Water is currently undertaking a pilot project to assess the advantages of using elevated levels of oxygen in a simulation of the treatment of wastewater at its Kinnegar works. The project will assess if additional wastewater processing capacity can be obtained, whilst also using less electricity. A small electrolyser is currently being commissioned as part of this project, which will split water in to oxygen and hydrogen. The results of the pilot will help to inform the commissioning of a 1 MW electrolyser, and associated storage and refuelling equipment, to be based at a major wastewater treatment works in the Belfast area. The overall purpose of this project will be to demonstrate any potential benefits from the use of oxygen at scale to enable plant efficiency and in relation to the use of green hydrogen in decarbonising transport. Initially, the focus will be on NI Water's vehicle fleet, but the company will also seek to identify partner organisations to demonstrate the adoption of hydrogen in everyday vehicle use.

I am currently considering how we could build on work to date to provide further electrolyser and refuelling capacity to support the introduction of other zero emission heavy vehicles which may not be suited to using battery technology. The hydrogen future could also bring solutions for ferry operations and rail services, where electrification by overhead power lines is not economically viable.