North East England has proudly been at the forefront of innovation since the inception of the offshore wind sector almost 25 years ago. Following the launch of the Innovation Group in September 2020 a number of informative and well-attended innovation focused events have taken place.

The need for centralised and distributed energy storage is more widely recognised than ever, particularly when considering the increase of renewable sources, such as offshore wind, in the power mix. It is likely that hydrogen will play an important role in meeting these storage requirements as energy systems evolve to deliver a sustainable zero-carbon future.

This event aims to explore industry perceptions of hydrogen in future energy systems, new technologies for generating low/zero carbon hydrogen and the development of systems for large-scale hydrogen storage.

Event Programme

12.00 Registration and networking lunch

13.00 Welcome & introduction, Prof. Simon Hogg, Durham University
13.10 The developers view, Ian Ritchey, Durham University;

• SSE's hydrogen centre of excellence, Peter Marshall, SSE
• Development and regulation of hydrogen projects, Kevin Cloutter, RWE
• Hydrogen production in support of wind power activities, Matthew Day, EDF

13.55 Refreshments & networking

14.25 Hydrogen production & storage, Prof. Ian Ritchey, Durham University;

• Green hydrogen electrolyser technology, Matt Barney, Geopura
• Hydrogen production by thermal plasmas electrolysis, Tim Davies, HiiROC
• Using salt caverns for storing hydrogen, Tallat Azad, Storelectric

15.10 Wrap up & session close, Prof. Simon Hogg, Durham University

15.15 Event close