A power alliance of more than 20 energy-intensive UK businesses met MPs in Westminster to make the case for a hydrogen mega-project which will inject £6.5bn into the economy and create 24,300 jobs across the UK’s industrial heartlands.
Project HySpeed has mobilised an army of UK-based firms from FTSE100 to SMEs – including Wrightbus, Centrica, Heidelberg, ITM Power, JCB and National Gas – in direct response to the Government’s call to make the UK a clean energy superpower.
Arriving in Parliament on a Wrightbus hydroliner, the leaders met a group of more than 40 MPs and Parliamentarians to push for action, citing the issues with British Steel, blackouts in Iberia and foundation industry job losses as reasons behind the need to step up the UK’s energy capabilities.
HySpeed plans to produce 1GW of capacity by 2030 and reduce CO2 emissions by one million tonnes a year, scaling hydrogen production, cutting costs, strengthening the UK’s renewable energy leadership and safeguarding more than five million jobs linked to foundation industries.
Green entrepreneur Jo Bamford, Executive Chairman at the HydraB Power group which put forward the proposal, said HySpeed had unified the hard-to-abate industries.
“It is clear, even from events over the last few weeks, that the UK needs to prioritise its approach to generating, supplying and storing its own energy. While batteries can help electrify certain industrial elements, there are more than five million jobs in the foundation industries that are reliant on us coming up with an alternative plan. We believe HySpeed can deliver energy security and independence while protecting millions of jobs.”
The project will aim to build a robust hydrogen ecosystem that benefits British industries and workers. Strategically located hydrogen production hubs will support local ecosystems and inject hydrogen into the gas grid to enable UK-wide industrial decarbonisation.
Coupled with aggregated procurement of equipment and services, optimised power purchasing and low-cost-financing, HySpeed will help reduce the cost of green hydrogen and embed manufacturing jobs for generations.
Chris O’Shea, Group Chief Executive Officer of Centrica, the energy giant which owns British Gas, said: “Hydrogen can play a crucial role in tackling emissions from sectors that other clean energy sources can’t easily reach. It can be used to power the UK when the sun doesn’t shine, and the wind doesn’t blow.”
