The government is now inviting applications for its Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF)
Strand 1 and 2 of the £240mn NZHF opened for applications, with the fund striving to provide capital expenditure (CAPEX) and development expenditure (DEVEX) to support the commercial deployment of new low carbon hydrogen production projects during the 2020s. This will help the UK to deliver on its 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production by 2030, ahead of reaching net zero by 2050.
Through Strand 1, development expenditure support will be provided for front end engineering design (FEED) and post-FEED studies to grow the future pipeline of hydrogen projects in the UK. Proposals, to be successful, must demonstrate how they will develop a credible project that will contribute to the at-scale production of low carbon hydrogen by 2025, with funded projects needing to support delivery to the 2030 hydrogen goal. Grant requests must be between £80,000 to £15mn, with the deadline 11AM on 22 June.
In Strand 2, CAPEX will be provided for projects that do not require a hydrogen specific business model. These will be low carbon hydrogen projects that can deploy on the basis of capital expenditure support and can start construction rapidly. The total grant request here can be between £200,000 and £30mn, with the deadline 11AM on 6 July.
The government did acknowledge that some projects may be considering revenue support through the both Hydrogen Business Model and Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. Subject to compliance with subsidy control principles, it plans to develop arrangements that can support dual participation in both schemes. Projects would not, however, be allowed to claim both sources of funding for the same volumes of hydrogen.
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