United Kingdom – The Business and Energy Secretary will meet with business representatives today to encourage private investment in hydrogen as a future superfuel and clean energy source.
A new round of funding will be announced at the Hydrogen Investment Summit to reassure investors and reaffirm the government’s goal of making the UK a hydrogen-based economy, which was outlined in the Hydrogen Strategy released in August 2021. By the end of 2025, the government hopes to have 1 GW of electrolytic hydrogen in operation or under construction, which could produce enough hydrogen to fuel up to 45,000 buses annually.
In addition to supporting a shift away from expensive fossil fuels, Kwasi Kwarteng will show how the government is making good strides toward unlocking the £9 billion investment necessary to make hydrogen a cornerstone of the UK’s greener future. The government recently published the Hydrogen Investor Roadmap, opened applications for the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, and provided information on the Hydrogen Business Model and Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard.
Greg Hands, the energy minister, will make the announcement about the start of the joint funding round for electrolytic (green) hydrogen projects. Electrolysis is a process that uses an electrical current to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water. Funding is available under this joint round from the Hydrogen Business Model and the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) (HBM).
Hydrogen champion
As the UK’s first hydrogen champion, Jane Toogood will play a key role in bringing business and government together to realize the government’s hydrogen ambitions, including supporting up to 10GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, aiming to run annual allocation rounds for electrolytic hydrogen, and developing new business models for hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure by 2025. Kwasi Kwarteng will also make these announcements. With the help of these goals, the UK will be on track to become the world’s leading hydrogen economy, bringing in billions of pounds in foreign investment and supporting 12,000 jobs nationwide.
At this crucial juncture in the early development of the UK hydrogen economy, the New Hydrogen Champion Jane Toogood will support industry investment and deployment. She will identify the current obstacles to establishing a robust hydrogen economy in the UK and come up with innovative solutions for how to overcome them in order to speed up the project pipeline and fulfill UK government commitments.
