Clean Hydrogen Innovation Programme (CHIP)
Unlocking the potential of hydrogen in the UK through innovation
What is CHIP?
The Clean Hydrogen Innovation Programme (CHIP) is an industry-led, multi-year collaborative initiative to accelerate the development and deployment of clean hydrogen technologies in the UK through innovation. Clean hydrogen offers immense potential to decarbonise sectors such as industry, heavy transportation and dispatchable power generation that are challenging to electrify, whilst balancing the energy system by enabling large scale and long duration energy storage, thereby reducing pressure on electricity infrastructure. Key to widespread adoption is the cost of energy. CHIP convenes hydrogen sector stakeholders to collectively:
- Assess groundbreaking innovations to enable clean hydrogen deployment at scale.
- Scope and design targeted research and development (R&D) projects to accelerate the commercialisation of key components required within the sector.
CHIP is funded by industry and supported by the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
The UK hydrogen sector must scale rapidly towards multiple offtaker projects, but technology is a barrier in areas
UK targets for clean hydrogen production are ambitious
Aiming for 10 GW of clean hydrogen production by 2030, with at least 5 GW from green hydrogen, the scale of clean hydrogen projects must increase rapidly in the next 5 years backed with funding from both industry and government.
Meeting these targets requires rapid scaling
The number and size of clean hydrogen projects will increase with increased private investment and the Hydrogen Allocation Rounds (HAR) 1 and 2. Thus developers will move away from single offtaker projects to multiple offtaker projects to reduce risk and increase scale.
Midstream technologies are key to delivering these larger projects
The technologies needed for effective storage and distribution of hydrogen are essential for developers to establish value chains, reach more customers and reduce the commercial risk of these larger multiple offtaker projects.
But technology uncertainty in the midstream is impacting project deliverability
Delivering projects to meet the needs of multiple customers will require many developers to grow their knowledge of midstream technology from the ground up and will face considerable technology uncertainty in doing so.
This combined with a lack of innovation targeted at the midstream technologies will begin to slow the pace of project development.
Therefore, CHIP aims to increase project deliverability and reduce technology uncertainty through midstream innovation.
This means that CHIP is ...
Delivering innovation
Started in 2023, the Clean Hydrogen Innovation Programme (CHIP) is a multi-year joint industry programme (JIP) delivering the innovation required to overcome critical technology challenges in the developing midstream of clean hydrogen.
Increasing deliverability
CHIP aims to accelerate the next wave of clean hydrogen projects characterised by 10s MW of production and multiple end users by reducing technology risk and overcoming key industry issues in the midstream of hydrogen.
Addressing uncertainty
CHIP partners collectively address technology uncertainty through the scoping and delivery of collaborative innovation projects. These projects will focus on the technologies needed in the next 3-5 years to connect clean hydrogen producers and multiple offtakers.
Benefits of cluster working
Interested in becoming a CHIP member ?
Benefits for hydrogen developers
Exceptional financial efficiency in tackling key issues in the hydrogen supply chain, helping to reduce technology risk, uncertainty and ultimately accelerate supply chain developments.
Benefits for networks
Understanding how networks can collaboratively innovate with other actors in the space to use outcomes to develop knowledge and intellectual capacity in network-adjacent fields.
Benefits for SMEs and innovators
Tackling problems alongside biggest actors in sector with equal voice in defining innovation programmes.
Benefits for technology providers
Understanding and helping to achieve key operational targets for crucial hydrogen technologies.
Keep scrolling to find out more about what we’ve done to-date.
CHIP Phase 1 – Innovation Needs Assessment
Suitable technologies from across the hydrogen supply chain were identified through a landscape assessment and evaluated based on their cost reduction potential and strategic value for the UK's supply chain development, as part of an extensive Innovation Needs Assessment (INA).
17 experts spanning components OEMs, manufacturing, logistics, academia and the consulting industry were interviewed to validate the inputs of the INA.
23 technologies were analysed and six key components were signaled as the technologies with the biggest potential to unlock hydrogen deployment through innovation:
Salt caverns
Salt caverns are likely the most feasible and likely lowest cost means of facilitating the large-scale storage of compressed hydrogen.
Compressed storage tanks
Compressed storage tanks will be vital for supporting early establishment of hydrogen supply chains as well as continued development of distributed non-pipeline-served applications as a key provider of buffer storage for transport and small industrial applications.
Compressors
Compressors today present high operating and capital cost items but will be needed throughout the supply chain - optimising the dynamics of production, compression, and energy storage to minimise costs is a key means to bring down the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH) of renewable hydrogen.
Tube trailers
Tube trailers are highly likely to be a key bridging technology in the 2020s for connecting increasingly centralised hydrogen production to distributed demand centres.
New pipeline infrastructure
New hydrogen pipelines will have a transformative effect on LCOH by allowing much larger volumes of hydrogen to be transported firstly on a local level and then perhaps nationally depending on existing natural gas pipeline conversion, at lower cost than other distribution methods.
Existing pipeline infrastructure
The strategic value of converting current natural gas transmission and distribution assets cannot be underestimated as a key facilitator of connecting large scale supply and demand centres - like new pipelines, this could have a transformative effect on LCOH.
In the first phase of innovation project delivery, CHIP Phase 2 is tackling key uncertainties around three vital technology groups with practical applications in the hydrogen supply chain
Clarifying the compressor market
Objectives:
- To understand how the current market offering meets need in different use cases as defined by supply chain archetypes.
- To compare the cost and performance of UK market available hydrogen compressor technologies available in the UK including import options.
- To identify key practical trade-offs and barriers to operating hydrogen compressor technologies.
- To understand opportunities where innovation and demonstration could significantly improve the market offering.
- Allow CHIP members and potentially wider industry to improve decision making around selection of compressor technology where to target innovation activity.
Hydrogen purification cost-benefit analysis
Objectives:
- Understand the level of purity needed by, or effect of contaminants on end-users and at other key points throughout the hydrogen supply chain.
- Uncover the extent to which existing and close to market purification technologies can meet these needs, and at what cost to LCOH?
- Given likely requirements of the supply chain and end-users in regard to purity, to explore what value is there in providing low, medium high or very high purity hydrogen and where.
- To understand where innovation in purification technologies is most needed, can be most impactful in meeting current needs and the barriers it will face.
Economic/carbon appraisal of hydrogen distribution and buffer storage
Objectives:
- To understand the economic interplay and trade-offs between use of tube trailers/pipeline for distribution of hydrogen
- To understand the commercial case for onsite buffer storage of compressed hydrogen, provided by either tube trailer, compressed gas storage tanks or other relevant technology.
- To understand the carbon implications of hydrogen distribution routes.
- To identify how cost and carbon associated with hydrogen distribution technologies scales with capacity and innovation.
CHIP has brought about real impact, here are some words from our partners
“We are very pleased to be supporting these high value projects alongside the members of the CHIP consortium. The findings of the projects will help us develop SSE's upcoming hydrogen projects, especially by reducing risk.“
- James Ferguson, Hydrogen Technology Engineer, SSE
“Having first started talking to the Carbon Trust about the concept of CHIP in early 2022, I am delighted that Levidian became one of the programme’s founding partners and am excited to see the outputs from the first set of projects being funded by this industry-led initiative supported by DESNZ.”
- Dr Mike Lloyd, Head of Sustainability and Innovation Funding, Levidian
“The Carbon Trust has been very successful in promoting innovation and cost reduction across the energy sector so we are very pleased to support the CHIP programme which is aiming to do the same for the low carbon hydrogen supply chain.”
- Andy Goodwin, Head of Hydrogen Policy and Economics, Scottish Power
Clean Hydrogen Innovation Programme Phase 3 Tenders will be released later this year.
Contact us
If you are interested in joining CHIP, or learning more, contact us:
Our partners:
CHIP is a joint industry programme funded by industry and supported by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. CHIP also receives in-kind support from its advisory network comprising research, innovation and certification bodies.
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