Ireland – Ireland’s first Hydrogen Valley will be developed by the GH2 consortium.
NUI Galway, the Port of Galway, CIÉ Group and Bus Éireann, Aran Islands Ferries, Lasta Mara Teo, Aer Arann Islands, and SSE Renewables are all members of the Galway Hydrogen Hub (GH2).
The proposal from GH2 is to create a Hydrogen Valley in Galway, similar to those that have been established in other European countries. A Hydrogen Valley is a regional ecosystem that connects hydrogen research, production, distribution, and transportation to a variety of end users, including transportation and industry. The use of locally produced renewable hydrogen at Hydrogen Valleys is seen as a critical step toward the creation of a new hydrogen economy. GH2 will establish Galway as Ireland’s first Hydrogen Valley, supplying green hydrogen for use in transportation, industry, and local communities throughout the Galway region.
Hydrogen transportation hub
The goal of the GH2 consortium is to create a first-of-its-kind flagship demonstrator project at Galway Harbour for the production and supply of clean green hydrogen fuel for public and private vehicles. This will include buses and trucks, resulting in a multi-modal, zero-emission, renewable hydrogen transportation hub that can be replicated across Ireland.
By the second half of 2024, the planned hydrogen transportation hub should be fully operational.
Changing the outlook
Green hydrogen is created when renewable electricity is used to electrolyze water and separate it into its component parts of oxygen and hydrogen. When other fuels like gasoline, diesel, or natural gas are burned, harmful carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere; however, hydrogen produces only water vapour. It can be compressed or liquefied after production, allowing large amounts of renewable energy to be transported long distances and stored for months at a time, potentially changing the outlook for renewable-rich countries.
