Fife hydrogen-home project signs up 300 households

Set to go live n 2024, H100 Fife will be delivered through a partnership between gas distribution company SGN and Fife Council, in cooperation with industry regulator Ofgem. The project, claimed to be a world-first by the partners, will see Baxi provide its 100 per cent hydrogen boilers to the participating customers.

Green hydrogen for the project will be supplied via a dedicated Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult 7MW wind turbine, which will be connected to an on-site electrolyser and six purpose-built storage tanks. Modelling shows the turbine could ultimately help provide enough hydrogen for up to 900 homes a year.

Customers living in the Denbeath or Buckhaven areas in Levenmouth who use gas and live in terraced, semi-detached, detached houses and ground or first floor flats can take part.  The initial cohort of 300+ households will have hydrogen boilers and in some cases cooking appliances fitted and maintained for free for the duration of the project, which is due to run until 2027.

“We are thrilled to be providing our 100 per cent hydrogen boilers to another innovative, world-first demonstration project,” said Karen Boswell, managing director of Baxi UK & Ireland.

“It’s great to see the support for this project from the local community and hands-on involvement from Fife council and other important stakeholders in the area. With such projects, we can help the public, government and wider heating industry to better understand the potential of hydrogen to provide safe and low-carbon heating in the future, alongside other options available today such as heat pumps, hybrid systems and heat networks.”

Baxi attended an event hosted by SGN on 8 March to mark the beginning of construction of the H100 Fife hydrogen homes demonstration facility, which will open to the public this summer. The new facility will feature two hydrogen show homes where visitors will be able to try out domestic hydrogen appliances, including Baxi’s pure hydrogen boilers.

In February 2023, Altrad Babcock was appointed as the main works contractor for H100 Fife, with engineering consultancy Arup having delivered the design. Altrad Babcock will lead on the hydrogen production and storage elements on the project, with Scotland’s Marshalls Construction developing the hydrogen show homes.

“We are delighted that we have been appointed main works contractor for SGN’s H100 Fife project,” said Altrad Babcock’s Major Projects VP, David Cornforth. “SGN, together with Arup, has developed the project to final design stage – and we are immensely proud of the role we will play in seeing it to fruition.

“This first of a kind project will demonstrate the practicality of bringing green hydrogen gas to domestic customers for the first time, supporting evidence for future low carbon policy decisions and paving a clear path for similar applications in the future.”