A top hydrogen industry figure has urged the UK to “keep the foot on the gas” to accelerate the development of the sector.
Chief executive of trade body Hydrogen UK Clare Jackson says the sector has made “a lot of progress” since the publication of Westminster’s hydrogen strategy.
Published just over a year ago, the long-awaited document was designed to be the bedrock of the UK’s “hydrogen revolution”, laying out targets for growth and job creation.
It also set in stone a number of financial support mechanisms to help companies get their low carbon projects moving in the right direction.
Ms Jackson believes the strategy has created the “strong foundations” needed to ensure the UK reaps the benefits of what will become a “multi-trillion dollar global industry” by 2050.
© Supplied by Hydrogen UKShe said: “A lot of progress has been made by industry in the last year. That has been triggered by both the UK hydrogen strategy, and more importantly, the support mechanisms that were published at the same time – the hydrogen business model, the net zero hydrogen fund and the low carbon hydrogen standard.
“They are genuinely world leading support mechanisms, and they’ve been great for attracting investment and excitement in what can happen in the UK, and we’ve seen a number of projects come forward.
“The adjustment of the target that happened with the energy security strategy, from 5 gigawatts (GW) to 10 GW, was very significant too and it’s now more reflective of where we are as an industry.”
Ms Jackson also noted the “huge” leaps forward that have been made around hydrogen technology and demonstrations.
That includes trials carried out by SGN into using the fuel to heat and power hundreds of homes in Levenmouth, Fife.
Copious agreements have also been signed by companies looking to use hydrogen to power their industrial operations.
Low carbon hydrogen is seen by many to be the clear cut solution to the monumental challenge of decarbonising heavy industry and transport.
And Ms Jackson stressed the necessity for the industry to continue advancing at pace to ensure it is able to cope with the pressure that will be placed upon it.
She said: “There has obviously been a lot of focus on production; that is one part of the value chain. There is a recognition within industry, and increasingly within government, that the other two major areas – demand and infrastructure – are now targets.
“We were very pleased to see the transport and storage business model consultation that came out recently – that is something we’ve been pushing for.
“Those larger infrastructure networks and storage areas have long lead times in terms of the buildouts, and we need to be starting with that work as early as possible – ideally yesterday – if it’s going to be where it needs to be when larger production projects are coming online.”
She added: “At Hydrogen UK, we are very excited about what has happened in the last 12 months, but also the coming 12 months. We’re expecting lots of projects to get to a point where they’re awarded contracts from the government. Hydrogen has an incredibly important role to play, and we need to keep the foot on the gas and move faster.”
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