Jane Toogood will be announced as the UK’s first Hydrogen Champion, at the Hydrogen Investment Summit later today.
Jane will play a vital role in bringing industry and government together to realise the government’s hydrogen ambitions – including supporting up to 10GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, aiming to run annual allocation rounds for electrolytic hydrogen, and designing, by 2025, new business models for hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure.
Jane is Chief Executive of Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey, a FTSE 250 company which is a major player in the research and development of technologies to accelerate the transition towards net zero. She is also co-Chair of the Hydrogen Advisory Council, created for government and industry to work together to identify and promote the actions required to enable the supply of low carbon hydrogen at scale for use across the UK’s energy system.
A new round of funding will also be announced at the summit, to give investors the confidence they need in hydrogen.
This is a major next step in delivering the government’s ambition to have 1GW of electrolytic hydrogen in operation or construction by the end of 2025 – which could produce enough hydrogen to fuel up to 45,000 buses per year.
At the summit, Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will demonstrate how the government is making good progress on unlocking the £9 billion investment needed to make hydrogen a cornerstone of the UK’s greener future, while supporting a move away from costly fossil fuels. In recent months, the government has opened applications for the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, published the Hydrogen Investor Roadmap, and set out details for the Hydrogen Business Model and Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard.
Energy Minister Greg Hands will announce the opening of the joint allocation round for electrolytic (‘green’) hydrogen projects, a method which uses an electrical current to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water. Under this joint round, funding is available from both the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF), and the Hydrogen Business Model (HBM).
The government is also publishing several documents that deliver on commitments set out in the UK Hydrogen Strategy and the British Energy Security Strategy. These include a Sector Development Action Plan which sets out actions government and industry can take to seize the opportunities presented by the low carbon hydrogen economy, in areas like investment, supply chains, skills and exports.
It includes an update to the market on progress on delivering on the Hydrogen Strategy, and a Research and Innovation (R&I) brochure giving industry guidance how support and funding for hydrogen R&I projects can be accessed from major public sector organisations.
An application form and guidance for the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) and Hydrogen Business Model (HBM) joint allocation round has also been published, which builds on feedback from a recent market engagement exercise to set out the key criteria for the round.
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