Summary of the Challenge
Hydrogen will be an important part of our energy mix as we transition to net-zero. It has a range of applications at various scales which has an impact on supply chain resilience.
Governments worldwide are increasingly recognising the importance of clean renewable energy sources such as biofuels, hydrogen, and wind power in addressing urgent energy shortages and environmental challenges. Hydrogen, especially, emerges as a highly promising option for transporting green energy, given its significant availability on Earth.
The complexity and uncertainties of hydrogen supply chains (HSCs) are highlighted by the sustainable or non-renewable feedstock for hydrogen production, and different electrolysis and thermochemical approaches further exacerbate such complexity. The intricate nature of HSCs leads to a myriad of challenges that disrupt their operations, varying from infrastructure failures, scheduled shutdowns due to conflicts, attacks, environmental disasters, theft, unanticipated delays, queuing, demand fluctuations, inventory shortages, inadequate supply capacity, and political unrest.
While these challenges may be infrequent, their occurrence carries significant economic and societal consequences. The complexity of HSCs necessitates considerations of process connectivity, infrastructure availability, and the resilience of supply and distribution networks to mitigate potential disruptions. Additionally, as the pursuit of net-zero gains momentum, questions arise about achieving a sustainable hydrogen economy and evaluating the long-term resilience of the HSCs, particularly in the context of large-scale hydrogen production. Furthermore, the factors influencing the resilience and sustainability of hydrogen supply are interconnected and overlapping, making it challenging for stakeholders to make appropriate judgments regarding the attainment of the net-zero goal.
Our Response
We want to investigate ways to make hydrogen supply chains resilient in the future so that different applications are viable in South Yorkshire. From smaller scale projects supplying energy locally to larger scale projects with industrial consumers, it’s important that we have a resilient supply chain ready to meet its demands.
This project will create a hydrogen business ecosystem maturity model to evaluate and guide the resiliency of the HSCs. This project will contribute to the resilience of HSCs by building novel performance evaluation methods and offering a continuous improvement roadmap. The project will clarify the boundaries and connections of subsystems within the HSCs, providing the optimisation strategies to achieve a sustainable and resilient hydrogen business ecosystem. The development of the model will be informed by a comprehensive literature review and insights from the HSC practitioners. Exploratory case studies and simulations will be conducted to validate the proposed model and strategies.
