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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to support demonstration trials of hydrogen-based steelmaking as part of the commitment to near-zero steelmaking by 2035.

The Government recognises the importance of research and development in helping to transform the steel sector so that it can play a vital role in developing a cleaner, greener economy in the UK.

The Government has announced the £250m Clean Steel Fund to help the sector transition to lower carbon iron and steel production, and this could potentially include supporting hydrogen-based steelmaking. It is also providing up to £66m as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, to help key foundation industries, such as steel, develop innovative technology to reduce energy and resource use.

The Government also plans to establish a Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (previously Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund): with £240m of capital co-investment out to 2024/25. This will support at-scale hydrogen production projects, allowing steel producers the potential to access to secure supplies of lower cost hydrogen.

More broadly the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio provides funding for low carbon technologies and systems to support decarbonising our power, homes and industry as set out in the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.