Government’s £2bn boost for hydrogen investment and jobs

The UK government has pledged £2bn of funding over 15 years that will create 700 new jobs and help to establish a world-class hydrogen industry.

The announcement includes an immediate £400m for 11 major products across the UK to produce green hydrogen.

The projects include:

• Sofidel in South Wales, who will replace 50% of their current gas boiler consumption with hydrogen at their Port Talbot paper mill
• InchDairnie Distillery in Scotland, who plan to run a boiler on 100% hydrogen for use in their distilling process
• PD Ports in Teesside, who will use hydrogen to replace diesel in their vehicle fleet, decarbonising port operations from 2026

The government has also confirmed that the suppliers will receive a guaranteed price for the energy that they supply.

Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said:

“Hydrogen presents a massive economic opportunity for the UK, unlocking over 12,000 jobs and up to £11 billion of investment by 2030.

“Today’s announcement represents the largest number of commercial scale green hydrogen production projects announced at once anywhere in Europe.

“These 11 major new hydrogen projects across the UK will create over 700 jobs and deliver new opportunities from Plymouth in England to Cromarty in Scotland.”