The longest running trade group in the field of hydrogen has rebranded to address a new set of aims and ambitions for the organisation in future.
The UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, which has been running since 2010 and boasts more than 120 members, has been renamed the Hydrogen Energy Association – an announcement made at its annual conference – Getting to 2030 – held at London’s QEII Centre.
CEO Celia Greaves said: “We have been at the forefront of hydrogen developments and projects for more than 10 years and we’ve been delighted to have played our part in driving forward the tremendous changes that have taken place, such that hydrogen is now recognised as a vital component of not only our journey to net zero, but also enhanced energy resilience and future growth.
“The changes across the landscape have been diverse and multifaceted and include an increasing range of low carbon hydrogen production routes, new areas of focus, such as national scale transportation and storage, and a growing number of hydrogen applications and end-use technologies.
“We have grown in parallel, extending our remit, reach and voice to reflect this richer and more complex ecosystem. And now, following extensive review and analysis, this evolution is to be extended to our brand.
“As the Hydrogen Energy Association, we can reflect not only our broad church membership, but also values that are important to us – momentum, innovation and diversification.”
Over the past year, the Hydrogen Energy Association has seen membership grow by more than 25% with new members from across the hydrogen landscape including production, materials and components, finance, academia and end use applications.
It has also launched three new working groups, adding to the nine already in place, with the new ones covering Hydrogen Transportation and Storage, Hydrogen for Transport and Hydrogen Refuelling Infrastructure.
In addition, the group has continued work to shape policy to best meet hydrogen’s needs, working with policy makers on areas as diverse as hydrogen supply chains, reducing red tape, hydrogen certification and the evolution of business models.
In conjunction with this, it held its first Lobby of Parliament, bringing together members and their constituency MPs to discuss and progress issues of direct importance to businesses at the vanguard of the sector.
Celia said: “We recognise that our success is linked to the success of the industry itself and, therefore, our primary ambition is to support and create jobs and growth in the sector.
“To do this, we need to appeal, and be seen to appeal, to the widest possible collective within the hydrogen space and use the collective voices of our membership to drive the government towards creating this economy for all those working in it to thrive.
“And so, with this change of brand and name, we will continue to build on all that has brought us to where we are today.”
