A major road safety improvement at Bootle in Merseyside is being
delivered from a zero-emissions construction compound powered by
green hydrogen – for the first time on a National Highways
project.
National Highways, which operates England's motorways
and major A roads, is delivering new pedestrian crossings at
the A5036 Dunnings Bridge Road and Park Lane crossroads at
Netherton. And, in a company first, all the electricity for the
construction compound is being powered by hydrogen rather than
from the grid or diesel generators.
Galliford Try, National Highways' lead constructor for the £7
million project, has been trialling the use of a hydrogen fuel
cell generator to power the site compound. Three site offices,
toilets, kitchen, drying room and two EV charging
points have all being powered by the hydrogen system since the
scheme, due to be completed by Friday 12 June, hit the ground in
November.
The successful pilot project is significant as a
cleaner, greener and quieter alternative to diesel
generators when a site connection to the national grid – always
the preference – is unavailable. The use of green
hydrogen is also important as it is produced sustainably using
renewable, emission-free and often surplus wind or solar
power.
Duncan , National Highways' chief operating
officer, said:
“At National Highways we're totally committed to
decarbonising the way we operate,
maintain, repair and improve our roads. We expect
companies in our supply chain to share those goals, so
when I visited the site, I was delighted to see
ourselves and Galliford Try working together to trial this new,
greener way of running the construction compound.
“It's a pilot project and as the price of this technology comes
down, this has to be the future compared to burning fossil fuels
when we cannot connect a site to the grid.”
Poppy Parsons, Head of Low Carbon for Galliford Try,
said:
“Diesel Hybrid generators have traditionally been our go-to
solution for sites with limited or temporary access to mains
power. By switching to green hydrogen, we've been able
to remove all carbon emissions from site power generation,
improve local air quality, and minimise noise disruption. The
transition has allowed us to show this new
technology works in reality, lowering environmental
impact without compromising on reliable power, and we are now
looking to expand its use within our business.”
The trial aligns with both National Highways and Galliford
Try's ambitious decarbonisation targets. National Highways
is targeting net zero maintenance and construction by 2040.
For Galliford Try, this includes a 42 percent reduction in
emissions by 2030. This trial directly supports these commitments
by demonstrating practical pathways to cutting
fuel-related emissions at site level.
Ian Spence, National Highways' Park Lane project manager,
said:
“This is the first time we have ever operated a compound with
hydrogen generators and it's cutting up to 2.5 tonnes of
carbon from the project every week as well as being far cleaner
and quieter for local residents as well as staff using the
compound.”
In 2021 National Highways unveiled its Net Zero Highways Plan
with a commitment to delivering net zero corporate emissions by
2030, maintenance and construction emissions by 2040 and road
user emissions by 2050.
In February National Highways revealed that green hydrogen would
play a key role in powering the construction of the Lower Thames
Crossing - the first major British infrastructure
project to be carbon neutral in construction.
