Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps is he taking to support research and development for large-scale hydrogen conversion projects.

The Government is currently undertaking work to strengthen and assess the evidence on the range of potential approaches to decarbonising heat in the long-term. This work includes examining the possibility of large scale conversion of the gas network to hydrogen, as well as looking at the potential of other low carbon gases, heat networks, and large-scale electrification of heating.

In support of this work we are investing in hydrogen innovation, with up to £65 million supporting projects addressing the fundamental challenges of large-scale hydrogen conversion, such as establishing the safety case and reducing production costs.