Minister promises £20 million boost into Hydrogen Hubs during visit to Swindon

Published by

Nicky Godding

A £20 million boost to businesses embracing the potential for a future UK hydrogen economy has been promised by Energy and Clean Growth Minister, Claire Perry.

The announcement was made during a visit to Swindon’s innovative Hydrogen Hub and Recycling Technologies.

Hydrogen fuel is a safe and low-carbon alternative for energy in buildings, industry, and transport - but is currently costly to produce and transport.

It is the latest clean technology to receive a government boost - all part of the Clean Growth Strategy - and has the potential to revolutionise the automotive industry through clean green fuel.

Speaking at the Swindon Hydrogen Hub, Energy and Clean Growth Minister, Claire Perry, said: "Clean, green and safe, hydrogen has an exciting role to play powering the UK but needs to be cheaper and more widely available to live up to its potential. The £20 million funding boost, part of our modern Industrial Strategy, will help to address these challenges so that we can sustain the exciting momentum building in our low carbon hydrogen economy, creating high-value jobs up and down the country."

The minister met with Hydrogen Hub members to discuss the UK’s strength in hydrogen and fuel cell technology development, and the potential for the UK to be at the forefront of a new hydrogen economy, helping us to meet our climate change targets.

The £20 million Hydrogen Supply programme will look to significantly reduce the high cost of producing large volumes of low carbon hydrogen, so that the technology can become a competitive, clean energy supply of the future.

During her visit to Swindon, the minister will also meet CEO of Recycling Technologies, Adrian Griffiths, to see how government support through the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund has enabled this dynamic start-up, based at South Marston, Swindon to develop a system to recycle mixed plastics waste back into a valuable hydrocarbon.

Recycling Technologies is helping in the fight against marine plastic by providing a chemical recycling solution that allows a wide range of plastics to be recycled, which are not practicably recyclable with existing processes.

The Hydrogen Hub, which has its headquarters in Solihull, establishes communities or “Hubs” of stakeholders who work together to drive investment in hydrogen and fuel cell technology on a local and national scale. In March, the Hydrogen Hub Oxfordshire launched a second Hydrogen Hub in the county. The Hydrogen Hub launched in Swindon and Wiltshire in January 2016 and has since driven over £1.5 million of external investment in hydrogen and fuel cell projects in the region with over 50 different organisations participating in working groups and projects.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.