How low carbon hydrogen can create a more flexible energy system

25 August 2026 | 3-minute read

Scotland has significant renewable energy capacity, with potential to expand further in this space. However, decarbonising the UK’s energy system requires not just more renewable energy capacity, but greater flexibility. Low-carbon hydrogen production, through flexible electrolysers, provides an opportunity to accelerate this process.

What is a flexible energy system?

Flexibility means a system that can adapt to fluctuations in demand, stress on the electricity grid, price differences, and renewable energy generation. Flexibility can help to reduce our overall energy demand, provide consumers with greater control over their energy use, and reduce strain on the grid.

The UK Government published a roadmapopens in a new window towards a more flexible energy system in early 2026. The roadmap recognises the importance of home-grown energy, reducing pressure on the grid, and off-peak energy usage.

The document highlights how rolling out smart meters can more accurately monitor energy usage and reduce energy bills for consumers by shifting electricity demand to off-peak times. It also references grid-scale battery deployment. This can help the UK to store electricity for use during high-demand periods to avoid wasting excess renewable energy and reduce costs for consumers.

The role of hydrogen in a flexible energy system

The UK generates an abundance of renewable energy capacity, often more energy than local demand requires. However, when the electricity grid cannot cope with this additional capacity, the country actively pays wind farms to switch off and pays gas plants to turn on. 

Grid infrastructure can struggle to accommodate surges in supply from renewable generation hubs. Grid operators must keep the electricity grid stable and safe, despite renewable energy generation occasionally driving wholesale prices negative.

This inefficiency has cost the UKopens in a new window over £1 billion so far this year. A more flexible energy system can help to reduce renewable energy curtailment. As part of the roadmap towards a more flexible energy system, the UK Government also references hydrogen. 

Using flexible electrolysers to produce low-carbon hydrogen presents an opportunity to reduce curtailment by directing excess renewable energy to these electrolysers.

SHINe responded to a government call for evidence seeking views on how to deliver flexible operation of electrolysers. The technology presents a real opportunity to both reduce the amount of wasted renewable energy, while simultaneously reducing hydrogen production costs. In our response, we highlighted hydrogen’s role in balancing grid services, contributing to energy system resilience, and reducing electricity costs.

Electrolysers achieve these savings by ramping up and down hydrogen production, through start-stop cycles that respond to fluctuating electricity prices and demand. Some technologies, including Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysers, can respond to day-ahead and intraday electricity price signals. This way, electrolysers can engage in demand-side response and decrease grid pressures.

Performance barriers to flexible electrolyser operation

While hydrogen electrolysers offer significant opportunities for increasing energy grid flexibility, they face several technical challenges to implementation.

Frequent start-stop cycles and flexible operation can cause issues and limitations for electrolysers. These include:

• Accelerating wear, which can reduce the system’s lifetime and hydrogen output purity
• Electrolysers not considered by the current electricity market in planning processes, causing administrative burden and minimum capacity thresholds
• Slow start-up times for electrolysers to reach stable operating conditions resulting in hydrogen venting, raising both safety and environmental concerns
• Electrolyser vendor guarantees rarely covering flexible modes
• Accelerated stress tests during trials often failing to cover real-world degradation patterns
• Flexible operation reducing utilisation rates, directly increasing hydrogen costs unless offset by the lower electricity costs

Certain electrolyser technologies can mitigate some of these risks but can result in other risks and performance constraints. For example, alkaline electrolysers are more durable and cost less to run. However, they also have slower start-up times leading to limited ability to handle dynamic grid-following operation.

Projects that are integrating flexibility into hydrogen production systems are also facing other in-use challenges. Control systems that enable real-time grid analysis and balancing markets are difficult and add additional capital expenditure. 

How SHINe is addressing these challenges

Our first co-creation workshop in October 2025 brought together stakeholders from across industry, academia, and early-stage innovation. We designed the session to work on the priority challenges facing the industry.

Alongside debates around hydrogen venting versus flaring and the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) process, we also discussed flexible electrolyser operation.

Our industry colleagues provided their key insights into reducing the barriers associated with flexible electrolyser operation. Participants highlighted the opportunities offered by hot-standby and hybridisation with batteries to slow the degradation rate and improve efficiency.

Hot-standby technology captures waste heat and auxiliary power to keep electrolysers at a consistent temperature to reduce wear. Hybridisation can cause batteries to absorb high-frequency power spikes and grid fluctuations in renewable energy before they reach the electrolyser.

Various Scottish universities are also developing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning models that can more accurately monitor electrolyser degradation and remaining useful life. Some systems are also integrating continuous gas quality monitoring, and safety systems that assess hydrogen purity and system degradation. 

Our industry partners and innovators are already developing solutions that solve some of the issues facing flexible electrolyser operation. 

Clyde Hydrogenopens in a new window has developed a decoupled electrolyser that can connect directly to renewable power. The system can store this energy and release hydrogen on demand, creating a flexible system that can produce hydrogen at different times and rates. Clyde Hydrogen’s system also stores hydrogen and oxygen separately, creating a safer system with no possibility of the two elements mixing.

Hychor’sopens in a new window technology can produce low-carbon hydrogen from seawater, enabling production at coastal and industrial sites. The technology uses built-in energy storage and local renewable power to minimise reliance on grid infrastructure. This system not only reduces hydrogen’s reliance on freshwater resources but also maximises the potential of excess renewable energy.

Conclusion

Flexible electrolysers not only have a key role in producing low-carbon hydrogen, but also in creating a safer, cost-effective, lower-carbon and secure energy system.

We are continuing to work with industry partners and innovators to develop solutions that will help Scotland and the UK to maximise its rich renewable energy resources.

If you would like to be involved in the conversation, contact the SHINe team.