Essar welcomes focus on hydrogen production in British Energy Security Strategy

We welcome the government’s commitment to the role that hydrogen can play as part of British Energy Security Strategy. 

In the strategy, the Prime Minister highlighted the benefits of hydrogen and stated the ambition for the UK to a leader in developing a domestic source of this super-fuel, in this ever-increasing internationally competitive space.

Through Vertex Hydrogen, we’re committed to playing our part in delivering on this ambition.  As a partner in the HyNet North West consortium – the UK’s leading industrial decarbonisation cluster – we are committed to developing the UK’s first low carbon hydrogen production plant with our joint-venture partners, Progressive Energy. 

By the mid 2020s, Vertex Hydrogen will produce 1GW per year of hydrogen per year for industry and transport across the North West and North Wales. This delivers on the Government’s target to have up to 1GW of CCUS-enabled ‘blue’ operational or in construction by 2025.  By the end of this decade, Vertex Hydrogen plans to produce 3.8GW of low carbon hydrogen - almost 50% of the Government’s new target. This will reduce CO2 emissions by 10 million tonnes every year - the equivalent of taking four million cars off the road.

Focusing on low carbon hydrogen will deliver a wide range of benefits to both the UK economy and our environment, helping to ensure the long-term security of the national energy supply as well as powering the UK’s journey to net-zero.

You can find out more about our joint venture company, Vertex Hydrogen, here