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The HEA invites members to influence the direction of the Hydrogen and CCS Skills Accelerator Pilot, funded by DESNZ with £400,000.
The pilot is running from September 2025 to March 2026 in South-West (focusing on HyHaul) and in the North-West (focusing on HyNet). Building on the Hydrogen Strategic Skills Plan, the Accelerator will provide some insight around skills availability, build capacity across regions, provide a legacy of open-source programmes and materials, alongside creating options for future skills programmes.
The webinar, together with the Hydrogen Skills Alliance, and the team running the pilot, will provide some background about that the Accelerator and its areas of focus, provide an update on progress and encourage a two-way discussion around proposed next steps, alongside a Q & A session.
The presentation will be made by the Project Lead, Jude Knight, Head of Low Carbon Skills at Cogent Skills alongside Debbie Baker, who is working on next steps.
Lee is an independent hydrogen and clean energy consultant and founder of Verray Consulting. He has worked in hydrogen, fuel cells and clean energy for more than 30 years, with experience spanning technology development, commercialisation, hydrogen infrastructure and business leadership.
Most recently, Lee was CEO of Fuel Cell Systems Ltd, where he led the business across its fuel cell and hydrogen refuelling activities. Prior to this, he spent eight years with UK fuel cell manufacturer Intelligent Energy, completing his time there as Chief Sales Officer. He led the global commercial team and supported the commercialisation of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies across automotive, power generation and aviation markets.
Lee’s involvement with hydrogen dates back to 1995, including early work supporting field trials of solid oxide fuel cell combined heat and power systems. Since then, his career has combined engineering, commercial leadership and the practical deployment of emerging clean energy technologies.
Through Verray Consulting, Lee now works independently with organisations across the hydrogen value chain, providing technical, commercial and strategic support.
