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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the economic benefits of green hydrogen development.

Low carbon hydrogen will be vital for meeting our legally binding commitment to achieving net zero by 2050, with potential to help decarbonise vital UK industry sectors and provide flexible deployment across heat, power and transport.

Working with industry, the UK is aiming for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030. As we progress towards this ambition, we would hope to see around 1GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2025.

The UK has expertise and assets to support both electrolytic (green) and Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) enabled (blue) hydrogen. Our twin track approach to enable both routes will drive cost effective supply volumes in the 2020s in line with our 2030 ambition, whilst scaling up green hydrogen.

As outlines in my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, achieving our ambition could support up to 8,000 jobs and bring over £4bn of private investment by 2030, potentially unlocking up to 100,000 jobs and £12bn GVA by 2050 in a high hydrogen net zero scenario.

The Government is clear that in supporting the growth of a hydrogen economy, there should be a focus on maximising economic benefits for local and regional communities and the UK as a whole. The UK will work with the green hydrogen sector to seek opportunities and export UK expertise and technology into the global hydrogen economy as it grows.