UK research and development facility Glass Futures has secured an agreement for the supply of daily deliveries of hydrogen for landmark trials.
The long-term supply agreement with Ryze agreement builds on the MoU signed between the parties in 2023 and will ensure daily hydrogen supply to the St. Helens-based research centre from next month.
Delivery infrastructure is being developed on-site with Ryze at present, and hydrogen trials will commence later this summer.
Glass Futures’ General Manager Aston Fuller said testing was only possible with a resilient supply of hydrogen.
“We have a blossoming hydrogen infrastructure capability which is enabling research in a meaningful, strategic way,” he explained.
“There is a real intrigue about hydrogen’s use in industrial processes, whether that’s HAR streams or the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, and while we’ve been involved in various pilots and test programmes we want to understand how hydrogen works over an extended period of time and its impact on industrial processes.
“The facility we have built in St Helens is globally unique and pioneering and this deal with Ryze is saying to people ‘come and do your hydrogen research in the UK’.”
Ryze Head of Business Development Alex Webster, said: “This is a game-changing supply to an organisation that is working tirelessly to reduce emissions and drive innovation across the glass and foundation industries, and we’re delighted to be taking our relationship with Glass Futures to the next level.”
Glass Futures has already powered a trial in Sheffield which showed that using hydrogen to power steelmaking could reduce carbon emissions by more than 40%.
