The announcement of the UK’s first three green hydrogen production projects marks an important milestone in supporting the drive for a homegrown energy future, OEUK has said.
The government’s Low Carbon Contracts Company which manages contracts with low carbon electricity generators, has now signed the first three hydrogen production contracts under Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 (HAR-1). These are part of the 11 contracts offered in this initial allocation round for green hydrogen production.
These early projects known as West Wales, Cromarty and Whitelee, are the first of their kind and will have a combined capacity of 31.8, equivalent to more than two of the new generation of offshore wind turbines.
The West Wales Hydrogen project is at a former oil refinery site in Milford Haven. The Cromarty project is near Invergordon in Northeast Scotland and Whitelee is outside Glasgow.
The 11 projects in HAR-1 are expected to bring over £400 million in private investment committed by 2026, creating 700 jobs, and driving economic growth.
Enrique Cornejo, OEUK’s head of energy policy, said:
“Today’s announcement kickstarts the first green hydrogen production projects in the UK.
“These projects have been made possible by industry and government developing policy foundations such as the low carbon hydrogen standard and the hydrogen production business model. Mechanisms like this must continue to evolve and clear deployment timelines are essential to provide clarity to developers and investors.”
“If we are to meet our low carbon hydrogen production targets, we need the full project pipeline to materialise. This includes progressing the HAR-2 process for green hydrogen projects and providing a route to market for blue hydrogen involving natural gas and carbon capture, which currently lacks access to government support.”
“Both blue and green hydrogen projects are needed to scale up low carbon hydrogen production. The recent funding confirmation for the first carbon capture and storage clusters enables the first two blue hydrogen plants to start construction and today’s announcement also kickstarts the first green hydrogen production projects in the UK.”
For more information contact media@oeuk.org.uk
