Thursday 13 August 2020

Scaling up hydrogen technologies ‘could unlock £18bn for the UK by 2035’

Scaling up hydrogen technologies could unlock £18 billion for the UK by 2035.

That's according to a new Economic Impact Assessment by the Hydrogen Taskforce, which estimates Britain could see the creation of 75,000 new jobs by 2035 if the government placed hydrogen in the heart of its green recovery strategy.

The alliance, which includes companies such as BP, Shell, BNP Paribas, Northern Gas Networks and Cadent has published a report, which forecasts around 11.3TWh of hydrogen would be required every year to support sectors such as heat, transport, power and industry by 2035.

Of this annual demand, 20% could be met by green hydrogen, through electrolysis and 80% by blue hydrogen.

The group also suggests the UK is well placed to take a global leadership position in hydrogen production as the UK has a greater installed capacity of offshore wind than any other country in the world.

It also notes more than 80% of UK homes and businesses are connected to the gas network, giving the UK a world-leading level of gas grid coverage.