Costain has won funding for an innovative feasibility study to see if hydrogen from biogas can fuel boilers to pasteurise fruit juice.
Costain is working with Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Wales and West Utilities and food and drink manufacturer Princes Group on the study.
It will explore whether hydrogen from biogas from the Cardiff East Waste Water Treatment Works can power the boilers.
The H2Juice project has won £372,931 of funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) £26m Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme (Stream 2A), to demonstrate the feasibility of end-to-end industrial fuel switching to hydrogen. The study will take five months, with the possibility of further funding in the subsequent Stream 2B, to conduct further engineering and a demonstrator.
The feasibility study will also investigate the ability to utilise different blends of hydrogen with natural gas, enabling the transition to fuel switching and demonstration of system flexibility.
The BEIS £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s, is providing funding for the programme.
Costain energy sector director, Matt Browell-Hook, said: “Costain has been active for a number of years in the development of hydrogen schemes across the UK and this recent award is a great reflection of the hard work our energy teams have been involved in.”
The project builds on a similar study carried out with Welsh Water to evaluate the feasibility of converting waste gases from the sewage treatment process to produce fuel-grade hydrogen, which could power local fleet vehicles.
