Kiwa UK officially commissions new Hydrogen Production Plant

Kiwa UK has officially opened their brand new local hydrogen production plant in Cheltenham. The plant and technology demonstration site is linked to Kiwa’s new test labs by the UK’s first low pressure hydrogen distribution pipeline, operated under the Gas Act 1986. The ability to connect to a continuous flow of odourised hydrogen will be invaluable to manufacturers seeking to understand the performance and longevity of their appliances.

The Kiwa team (including Project Manager Georgina Orr and Project Engineer Dr. Leighton Holyfield) has designed and managed the construction of the hydrogen production plant, which involves Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) of natural gas, primarily from a local biogas source, and the conversion of Kiwa’s labs to use this piped hydrogen. The knowledge gained is already proving useful to standards developers, market regulators and those looking to convert their own facilities to use bulk hydrogen.

Project Director Mark Crowther comments “This production facility demonstrates the feasibility of producing hydrogen from a locally derived source, which will potentially be of interest to biogas production sites. Kiwa is already taking bookings from technology developers wanting to demonstrate their products such as hydrogen purifiers, gas analysers and low carbon capture technologies.”

Project Engineer Dr. Leighton Holyfield and Project Manager Georgina Orr from Kiwa UK.

Kiwa and hydrogen

Would you like to know more about the services we offer in the field of hydrogen? Please have a look at this page. For more information about the hydrogen services offered by Kiwa UK, please contact our colleagues using this form.