USW joins regional hydrogen supercluster

The University of South Wales (USW) is part of a multi-million-pound project which will develop a hydrogen supercluster in South-West England and South Wales.

The project ‘GW-SHIFT: Great Western Supercluster of Hydrogen Impact for Future Technologies’ will bring academic, civic, and industry partners together to unlock the huge potential of the region’s hydrogen ecosystem, providing solutions for storage and distribution, transport, and the energy sector supporting up to 100,000 jobs by 2050.

GW-SHIF, led by the University of Bath and University of Exeter, has secured £2.5m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of its Place Based Impact Acceleration Account awards (PBIAA).

USW will join researchers from Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Swansea, and Plymouth Universities, together with 25 civic and industry partners, contributing more than £1.5m in additional funds and in-kind support, to maximise the enormous potential of the South-West of England and South Wales hydrogen ecosystem. GW-SHIFT will also enable cross-sector partnerships to drive the development of hydrogen skills, infrastructure, and technology.

As USW’s long-standing research has shown, hydrogen technologies will play an important role in decarbonising industry, transport and energy to meet the UK government’s 2050 Net Zero target. GW-SHIFT will be a key enabler of these priorities, supporting the UK transition to low-carbon hydrogen production and use.

Over the next four years, GW-SHIFT will support innovative research and activities to create a thriving low-carbon hydrogen supercluster focusing on key themes such as production, storage and distribution, conversion, and transport.

Working with existing partners and identifying new ones to be involved in the project, it will co-create low-carbon hydrogen solutions for aviation and shipping, heating buildings, and the power sector. The Western Gateway Hydrogen Delivery Pathway calculates that investing in hydrogen infrastructure within the area could create up to new 40,000 new jobs and safeguard a further 60,000.

USW Vice-Chancellor Dr Ben Calvert said: “Being a part of this project builds on the University’s drive to be a leading force in the mission to build a more sustainable world, and will strengthen our relationships with industry and other partners as we work together to solve real-world problems.”

Jon Maddy, Director of the USW Hydrogen Research Centre, said: “We are delighted to have joined forces with expert academics across South Wales and the South-West of England for this important project. Our work in Hydrogen supports the University’s aim to strive for research excellence and innovation impact. GW-SHIFT is a clear example of impactful research that contributes to solving real problems faced by our society.

“The complementary and multidisciplinary research teams in GW-SHIFT will be collaborating with industry, communities, and government organisations to develop hydrogen solutions that will lead to cross-sector decarbonisation and make a positive difference to lives.”