Plans for a hydrogen multi-modal transport facility in Galway made a consortium led by the likes of NUI Galway, CIÉ Group and SSE Renewables have been announced by Taoiseach Micheál Martin in a development the group said could mark Ireland's potential as a major producer and exporter of hydrogen.
The Galway Hydrogen Hub (GH2), whose members also include the Port of Galway, Bus Éireann, Aran Island Ferries, Lasta Mara Teo and Aer Arann Islands, would be the first so-called "hydrogen valley" in Ireland, linking hydrogen research, production, distribution, and transportation.
It is expected that the project will provide green hydrogen for use in transport, industry and within local communities in the Galway region. Green hydrogen is produced when renewable electricity is used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen through electrolysis.
The process emits only water vapour rather than harmful carbon dioxide and, once produced, it can be compressed or liquefied, enabling large quantities of renewable energy to be transported long distances and stored for up to months at a time.
The consortium plans to develop an initial flagship demonstrator project at Galway Harbour for production and supply of hydrogen fuel for public and private vehicles, including buses and trucks, and a multi-modal, zero emission, renewable hydrogen transport hub.
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It said the transport hub could be fully operational by the second half of 2024 and that such facilities could be easily replicated across Ireland. Full details of the project will be announced in the coming weeks, along with details of a public consultation as part of the planning process.
Similar hydrogen valleys have been established in other European countries, and the development of green hydrogen could potentially provide security of energy supply and counter energy price fluctuation while reducing emissions.
"Sustainability and decarbonisation are at the heart of public transport," said Lorcan O'Connor, group chief executive of CIÉ. "We are delighted to work with our partners in the GH2 consortium to ensure we are at the forefront of the opportunity hydrogen fuel will provide in meeting both our own decarbonisation targets, and those of the state.
"It will ensure we have explored a complementary mix of zero-emissions technologies, with the current focus on electrification, to power low-carbon transport and meet our 2030 targets and net zero target by 2050. What we develop and learn in this innovative partnership in Galway could be transformative for sustainability in the transport sector as a whole.”
John O’Sullivan, SSE Renewables’ project manager for GH2, added: “Our consortium has come together with the objective of not only using green hydrogen to realise new renewable energy solutions for Ireland but to also deliver the country’s first hydrogen valley.
"Green hydrogen is gaining global recognition as a means of decarbonising heavy duty and long-distance transport as well as industry. The development of Ireland’s first hydrogen valley in Galway Harbour will allow us to utilise indigenous renewable energy to produce green hydrogen for use by local air, sea, road and rail transport alongside industry.
"As part of the integrated SSE Group, SSE Renewables has a view across the whole energy value chain and so is uniquely positioned to deliver this green hydrogen solution for the consortium, helping to kickstart the development of a new hydrogen economy in the west of Ireland.”
Dr Rory Monaghan, senior lecturer of Energy Systems Engineering at NUI Galway, said: “The future sustainable growth of our region will depend in large part on the availability of secure indigenous renewable energy.
"We are witnessing huge strides in the greening of our electricity grid with wind, but we use twice as much energy for transport, almost all of which is imported fossil fuel. The key innovation of GH2 is the use of wind to drive a zero emission, multi-modal transport sector.”
The Taoiseach was speaking at a conference hosted by the Port of Galway on the subject of renewable energy opportunities in the west of Ireland.
Photo: Taoiseach Micheal Martin with Conor O'Dowd, CEO, Galway Harbour Company, and Maurice O'Gorman, Chair, Galway Harbour Company at the Renewable Energy Opportunity for the West of Ireland conference hosted today by Galway Harbour Company, in the gHotel, Galway. (Pic: Eamon Ward)
