Centrica, JCB, ITM and Johnson Matthey are among the companies that have joined forces for a “landmark clean hydrogen mega-project”.
Project HySpeed will be backed with £6.5 billion and deliver 1GW of new green hydrogen production capacity, potentially creating 24,300 new jobs across the UK’s industrial heartlands in the process. It wants to create a hydrogen ecosystem benefiting British industries and workers with strategically located production hubs, supporting local ecosystems, injecting hydrogen into the gas grid to pave the way for UK-wide industrial decarbonisation.
This will come alongside aggregated procurement of equipment and services, optimised power purchasing and low-cost financing. Because of this, those behind HySpeed believe it will help reduce the cost of green hydrogen, while embedding manufacturing jobs “for generations”. HySpeed is aiming to ensure 50% UK content throughout the project and believes it can unlock £2 billion per year in GVA to the UK economy, while cutting CO2 emissions by 1 million tonnes annually.
Dennis Schulz, ITM Power’s CEO, said: “A consortium approach between credible industry players is the most effective pathway to the rapid scale-up of the UK’s green hydrogen economy. Comprising all elements of the hydrogen value chain from production to storage, transport and distribution, the initiative aims to locate green hydrogen generation in strategic locations across the UK. With volume come economies of scale, which will drive down costs and accelerate the market substantially.”
