Deeside based firm secures £4m of UK Government funding for cleaner hydrogen technology

A trailblazing Deeside-based clean energy firm has secured nearly £4 million from a UK government initiative designed to advance biomass and waste-to-hydrogen technologies through carbon capture.

Thehe Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), has granted £4m to Compact Syngas Solutions (CSS).

The award follows an initial round of funding of £246,568 won by CSS.

At the heart of CSS’s technology is an innovative gasification process, converting waste products such as biomass and non-recyclable materials, which would typically end up in landfill and emit harmful gases like carbon dioxide and methane, into valuable syngas.

This syngas can then be used to generate hydrogen gas, a cleaner alternative to traditional fuels. As the process removes carbon dioxide, it not only makes hydrogen production more efficient but also reduces its carbon footprint.

Additionally, the syngas, once separated from the hydrogen, powers a gas engine that both fuels the process and exports surplus to the grid.

The recent grant will be used by CSS to build a full-scale rig that demonstrates the feasibility of using water for carbon separation and storage during the process, an advancement over previously used harmful amines.

The rig will undergo rigorous reliability testing, operating non-stop for 1,000 hours, as it gears towards commercialisation. A single module of the rig is projected to produce 750kg of hydrogen and capture around 1,600kg of carbon dioxide daily.

CSS has ambitious plans for scaling up the technology. It aims to build more than 50 hydrogen modules at approximately 15 sites across the country, adapting to local demands.

These modules, when fully operational, are expected to produce 11,000 tonnes of hydrogen and capture 29,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

This innovative technology could prove instrumental in assisting the UK in achieving its Net Zero 2050 target. Hydrogen, a fuel that leaves no greenhouse gas by-products, will be produced from waste materials that would otherwise reach landfill.

Paul Willacy, managing director of CSS, expressed his excitement over the funding: “Winning a second round of funding is an incredible achievement for the team, as we were up against some stiff competition.”

He highlighted the company’s readiness to escalate the technology into a commercial-scale demo plant and invited further investment for the project’s rollout in the next couple of years.

“Capturing and storing the carbon from our gasification process and the hydrogen we produce will support the drive to Net Zero and lower the environmental impact of producing this green fuel at scale,” he added.