UK allocates grants to 15 low-carbon hydrogen projects and unveils shortlists for further funding
A total of £37.9m announced from Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, with 408MW of green H2 projects and four blue schemes shortlisted for separate financing
The UK government has allocated a total of £37.9m ($46.8m) of grants to 15 low-carbon hydrogen from its £240m Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF), which was designed to “support the upfront costs of developing and building low-carbon hydrogen production projects”.
Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition
Funding comes under two “strands” — one for development expenditure for front end engineering design, and the other for capital expenditure.
“This announcement is not everything that we hoped for,” Clare Jackson, CEO of trade body Hydrogen UK, wrote on LinkedIn this morning. “Brilliant projects that industry have been investing in have missed out. We are still moving too slow. Private sector investment won't wait forever. Announcements of intentions aren't enough!”
Projects due to receive funding under the NZHF are as follows (13 are green hydrogen, two are blue):
| Project name | Developer | Location |
| Trecwn Green Energy Hub | Statkraft | Wales |
| Ballymena Hydrogen | Wrightbus | Northern Ireland |
| Conrad Energy Hydrogen Lowestoft | Conrad Energy | eastern England |
| Didcot Green Hydrogen Electrolyser | RWE | eastern England |
| Green Hydrogen St Helens | Progressive Energy, Statkraft, Foresight Group | northwest England |
| Green Hydrogen Winnington & Middlewich | Progressive Energy, Statkraft, Foresight Group | northwest England |
| Inverness Green Hydrogen Hub | H2 Green Ltd | northern Scotland |
| Mannok Green Hydrogen Valley | Mannok | Northern Ireland |
| MCRU Integrated Hydrogen Delivery for a Fuel Cell Van Fleet Pilot | British Gas | Location not given |
| Lanarkshire Green Hydrogen | Octopus Hydrogen | southern Scotland |
| The Knockshinnoch Green Hydrogen Hub Project | Renantis, Logan Energy, Hive Hydrogen | southern Scotland |
| Hynet Hydrogen Production Pant HPP2 (blue H2) | Vertex | northwest England |
| Kintore Hydrogen | Statera | northern Scotland |
| H2NorthEast (blue H2) | Kellas Midstream | northeast England |
| Port of Felixstowe Green Hydrogen Project | ScottishPower, Hutchison Ports | eastern England |
The following green hydrogen projects have been shortlisted to receive funding from both the NZHF and the Hydrogen Production Business Model, which provides a subsidy representing “the difference between a ‘strike price’ reflecting the cost of producing hydrogen and a ‘reference price’ reflecting the market value of [grey] hydrogen”:
The four blue hydrogen projects shortlisted under the “Phase-2 Cluster Sequencing process” and therefore eligible for funding from a £1bn pot of state are funding are:
bpH2Teesside (BP); H2NorthEast (Kellas Midstream); H2H Saltend (Equinor) and HyNet Hydrogen Production Project (Progressive Energy). The first three are part of the so-called East Coast Cluster in northeast England, while the other is part of HyNet, a multi-faceted blue hydrogen production and usage project in northwest England.
UPDATED: to include details of Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 competition
(Copyright)