Members of the UK’s leading hydrogen trade bodies have welcomed news from Government that the Energy Bill will provide a mechanism to support the ramp up of hydrogen production.
The Hydrogen Coordination Forum, spearheaded by the Hydrogen Energy Association (HEA), and including REA, RenewableUK, Decarbonised Gas Alliance (DGA) and the British Compressed Gas Association (BCGA), say the new Hydrogen Business Model, established through the Energy Bill, is crucial to enable hydrogen to achieve its potential in delivering clean growth, net zero and energy resilience.
Celia Greaves, CEO of the HEA, said: “Many of our members at the Hydrogen Energy Association are working on projects that will revolutionise the use of hydrogen in transport and industry – which will unlock highly skilled jobs of the future, with tens of thousands of jobs expected by 2030.
“Their work is driving private investment in UK industry, with at least £4billion of private investment seeking to be deployed into UK hydrogen projects.
“It is clear that we need to accelerate decarbonisation across different sectors, with a pathway that includes hydrogen offering a lower total cost of decarbonisation.
“This will contribute to the UK’s energy security – supporting the transition to a future energy system based on UK generation and ensuring that we get the best use of existing infrastructure.
“Quite simply, a system with hydrogen in it in the long-term, costs less than a system without.”
RenewableUK’s Senior Policy Analyst, Laurie Heyworth, said: “We welcome the clarity from the Secretary of State that the Government is fully committed to ensuring revenue support for new green hydrogen projects will be available this year.
“The UK holds the potential to lead in this innovative technology; however, we must rapidly scale up and implement shovel-ready projects to drive down costs, foster sector growth and attract job opportunities and investment.
“The flexibility that green hydrogen offers, not only for decarbonisation but also as a way to boost energy security and facilitate the deployment of more wind generation projects, makes it a vital piece in the net zero puzzle.
“The significance of the Hydrogen Business Model will be to pave the way for these opportunities and enable the initial tranche of at least 250MW of green hydrogen projects to come online, followed by 750MW in the second allocation round.”
Chris Barron, Chair of the DGA, said: “Hydrogen has a critical role to play in the UK achieving net zero.
“It provides a cost-effective solution for hard to decarbonise energy demand, such as industry and HGVs, while providing an efficient solution for the decarbonisation of domestic heating with minimal impact on consumers.
“It is reassuring to hear the Government’s commitment to ensuring the necessary measures are put in place to unlock the private investment required to kickstart the UK’s hydrogen economy.”
In a letter to the Hydrogen Coordination Forum, Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, said: “The Government sees low-carbon hydrogen as a critical component of our broader strategy to delivery energy security, create economic growth and contribute to our net zero target.
“We know that investor and developer confidence are critical to realising the potential benefits of the UK hydrogen economy, which could support over 12,000 jobs and unlock up to £11bn in private investment by 2030.”
Collectively, the associations represent more than 700 organisations across the UK.
