UK-based Hydrologiq has won a grant competition to develop a digital version of the hydrogen supply chain for hydrogen-powered generator applications.

Alongside project partners Motive Fuels and Reynolds Logistics, with funding from Digital Catapult’s Digital Supply Chain Hub testbed competition, Hydrologiq will build the digital testbed to increase business resilience and supply sustainability.

As part of the UK national testbeds, the company will work with hydrogen suppliers and end-users in off-grid applications to gather data and build the digital platform that can be used for applications such as measuring supply chain emissions, optimising inventory management or testing the impact of supply chain changes.

Hydrologiq has said the project will see participation from gas provider BOC, rental businesses Speedy Services and Renewable Generation Limited, and hydrogen-powered generator manufacturer EODev.

It is hoped the platform will allow new strategies and technologies to be tested on replica supply chains without impacting everyday operations, with a view to transform supply chain integration.

“The challenges that are facing UK manufacturing are well known, the pandemic and the threats of climate crisis all adding to their woes,” said Tim Lawrence, Director of the Digital Supply Chain Hub. “Digital technologies are available to address these pressures but adoption in industry has proved to be difficult because there is not an environment where their value can be tested without impacting the actual supply chain.”

Lawrence continued, “These national testbeds create a digital environment where technologies can be developed and trialled. We’re building supply chains across the UK which are more efficient, resilient and sustainable.”

The testbed will be co-funded by Digital Catapult with each expected to receive up to £1.5m ($1.88m) in co-investment.

Aran Bates, Director of Hydrologiq, added, “The need for decarbonisation is clear and there are solutions that can solve it, what is often less clear is that the integration of these technologies and supply chains is one of the key roadblocks to adoption.

“A lack of integration leads to a great number of uptake barriers, from information opacity to high costs. End users won’t take up hydrogen unless we fix this.”

Born in 2019, Hydrologiq set out to decarbonise heavy-duty off-grid power, with a target of facilitating a clean alternative to diesel gensets.

Read more: Hydrologiq: A package for off-grid hydrogen power

Focused on solving problems at the heart of the market that slow the adoption of hydrogen gensets, last summer (2022), the company facilitated numerous deployments across UK building sites and festivals.