The Hydrogen Strategy Now campaign was launched in June 2020. Over 60 businesses and trade bodies, who collectively have £3bn of ”shovel-ready” private investment for UK hydrogen projects, joined together to call on the UK Government to develop a Hydrogen Strategy.
Since then 67 cross-party parliamentarians have joined this campaign, hydrogen has become one of the most discussed issues in Parliament and the Prime Minister put it as Point Two in his Ten Point Plan.
A core message of the campaign is that industry is not calling for the UK Government to match the levels of public finance committed by other hydrogen nations, such as Germany and France. The Government has said that its forthcoming Hydrogen Strategy will create incentives for the private sector to invest “rather than writing Government cheques”, and the campaign agrees with the Business Secretary that “the success of the hydrogen deployment will involve a substantial degree of private capital and private investment”. For this reason, the campaign has focused on sharing with Government the practical, proactive policies required to unlock private investment across the UK.
The State of the Hydrogen Nation Survey has collated the views of industry leaders on the progress and potential of the UK hydrogen sector to date, and the policy measures required to maximize the industries potential to create jobs, support the Prime Minister’s leveling-up agenda and achieve mayor Net Zero gains in the short and long term.
This survey is the first of its kind in the UK and brings together the views of leading businesses and organizations at the forefront of the hydrogen economy.
Key findings
1- 78% believe the 5GW hydrogen production target set out in the PM’s Ten Point Plan could be more ambitious.
2- 61% are not confident that the Hydrogen Strategy will create a ‘world leading’ hydrogen market.
3- 49% say the lack of a Hydrogen Strategy has stalled or reduced valuable investments in the UK hydrogen sector, and 38.4% say the UK is more difficult to invest in than other countries.
4- 36.8% said they will be investing in the UK next year, with Europe being a close second preference investment location.
5- 65% feel the Government is ‘somewhat’ coordinated across departments on hydrogen.
6- 73.7% think Scotland is doing the most on hydrogen compared to the other devolved administrations.
Next steps
The imminent publication of the Hydrogen Strategy marks the beginning of the next phase of the Hydrogen Strategy Now campaign, not the end. Hydrogen is going to play an essential role in the world’s future, low-carbon economy and stands to become a $2.5tr industry by 2050 that supports 30m jobs.
The race to lead this industry has started, evidenced by the billions being invested into hydrogen by Governments across the world. As Baroness Brown, vice-chair of the Committee on Climate Change, stated at the launch of the Hydrogen Strategy Now campaign, “the UK missed the boat on wind technology and missed the boat on batteries. We can’t afford to miss the boat on hydrogen”.
As this survey has shown, the industry looks forward to working with the Government, devolved administrations, and local authorities to deliver the Hydrogen Strategy, and stands ready to invest, create jobs and accelerate progress to Net-Zero.
Source: Hydrogen Strategy Now
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