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The UK gas industry responds to the long-awaited
release of the UK Hydrogen Strategy

uilding on the commitments into two main sects – green, which is
made in the Prime made using water and renewable energy,
Minister’s 10-Point Plan for a and blue, which comes from natural
Green Industrial Revolution, the gas, with carbon capture and storage
B UK Hydrogen Strategy sets out (CCS) used to deal with emissions –
the government’s ambition to create a with much debate in the sector around
thriving low carbon hydrogen sector, which should be prioritised.
with analysis suggesting that a third of Ministers have also pledged to work
the UK’s energy consumption could be with industry to develop a “UK standard
hydrogen-based by 2050. for low carbon hydrogen” in order to
The government has pledged to give certainty to producers.
support the advancement of both green
and blue hydrogen as part of plans to
create a “thriving” low carbon sector. “Today marks the start of the
This will be underpinned by a hydrogen UK’s hydrogen revolution.
sector development action plan, due to This home-grown clean energy
be launched in early 2022, which will source has the potential to
set out support for companies to secure
supply chain opportunities, skills and transform the way we power
jobs in the industry. our lives and will be essential
The strategy sets out how to tackling climate change and
government will work with industry reaching net zero”
to meet its ambition for five gigawatts
(GW) of low carbon hydrogen
production capacity by 2030. To support the development of
According to Westminster, a necessary networks and storage
“booming” hydrogen economy could be infrastructure, a review into the current
worth £900 million to the UK and create arrangements will be carried out.
more than 9,000 “high-quality jobs” in To drive uptake of the fuel, the
the coming years. “safety, technical feasibility, and cost
And those figures could rise to £13 effectiveness” of mixing 20 per cent
billion and 100,000 jobs by 2050. hydrogen into the existing gas supply
Hydrogen provides a means for will be assessed.
decarbonising energy-intensive, hard- It’s claimed that doing so could deliver
to-abate sectors such as chemicals, oil a seven per cent emissions reduction.
refineries, power and heavy transport, The hydrogen policy is designed
such as shipping, HGV lorries and trains. to replicate the UK’s “previous success”
Government analysis suggests that with offshore wind by coupling early
20 to 35 per cent of the UK’s energy government action with private sector
consumption could be hydrogen-based backing. As such, Westminster has
by the middle of the century. launched a public consultation on a
Kwasi Kwarteng, Westminster’s preferred hydrogen business model,
Business & Energy Secretary, said: influenced by the existing Contract for
“Today marks the start of the UK’s Difference (CfD) scheme.
hydrogen revolution. This home-grown It would aim to “overcome the cost
clean energy source has the potential to gap” between low carbon hydrogen
transform the way we power our lives and fossil fuels, helping the price of the
and will be essential to tackling climate former to fall quickly.
change and reaching net zero. Alongside this, ministers are
“With the potential to provide consulting on the design of a £240
a third of the UK’s energy in the million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund,
future, our strategy positions the UK which aims to support the commercial
as first in the global race to ramp deployment of new hydrogen
up hydrogen technology and seize production plants across the UK.
the thousands of jobs and private
investment that come with it.” THE INDUSTRY RESPONDS
Measures laid out in the Hydrogen National Grid’s Hydrogen Director
Strategy include a commitment to Antony Green said: “The transition to
develop a “twin track” approach to a green economy will require a mix
support multiple technologies, including of technologies and hydrogen will
green and blue hydrogen production. play a vital role. This strategy signals
Low carbon hydrogen is separated the UK’s commitment to hydrogen

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