£7m to decarbonise deliveries in the Tees Valley, with a
new hydrogen refuelling station for HGVs
Hydrogen hub will support hundreds of UK jobs and the
North East economy
Tees Valley Combined Authority will launch new
competition to help local colleges run hydrogen skills
training
Groceries are going green in the Tees Valley thanks to £7m
government funding announced today (17 January) for hydrogen
projects that will grow the economy and support skilled jobs in
the North East.
The funding has been awarded to fuel distributer Exolum to build
a publicly accessible green hydrogen refuelling station near
Middlesborough, initially serving at least 25 new zero emission
HGVs making deliveries. This will mean thousands of goods being
sustainably delivered in the area, from supermarket groceries to
new clothes.
The Government-funded Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport Hub is the
first of its kind in the country, showing how green hydrogen,
which does not produce any harmful emissions when used in a fuel
cell, can be utilised in transport. The move will not only
improve air quality for residents in the Tees Valley but supports
hundreds of skilled UK jobs and upskilling opportunities for
workers.
Technology and Decarbonisation Minister said:
“It’s fantastic to see the Tees Valley continue to be a
trailblazer in this vital technology to decarbonise heavier
vehicles – leading the way for the wider rollout of green
hydrogen.
“These three winning projects will not only support jobs and
economic growth in the Tees Valley but will also help decarbonise
our transport network.”
To further support the sector, Tees Valley Combined Authority
will use £300,000 of Government funding to run a competition for
Tees Valley colleges and training institutions to purchase
hydrogen training equipment to upskill the local workforce.
Today’s funding follows the announcement of the
first two winning projects, led by ULEMCo and Element 2, which
will develop hydrogen-powered airport ground-based support
vehicles and create new hydrogen refuelling stations.
Together, the three winning projects will innovate
hydrogen-powered transport in the Tees Valley, creating jobs and
apprenticeships. The Hydrogen Transport Hub is already creating
significant levels of industry interest, with a number of
developers having announced their intentions to build large scale
green hydrogen production in the area, with demand from transport
a key factor.
Tees Valley Mayor said:
“Our area is leading the way in developing the cleaner, healthier
and safer transport of the future. This is another great example
of how we are creating innovative solutions, such as greener
deliveries to our supermarkets. As the UK’s first Hydrogen
Transport Hub we are in a fantastic position to take advantage of
projects such as this, which will deliver further jobs and
investment needed to drive our local economy forward.
“As more of these major projects are confirmed, it’s also
essential that we develop skills in our workforce so this funding
is vital to ensure local people can take advantage of the
well-paid jobs this new technology is bringing.”
Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance said:
“Giving a whole new meaning to green groceries, I am thrilled
that delivery drivers in Tees Valley are set to make their rounds
using clean, green hydrogen.
“We are building a world-leading hydrogen industry, recently
committing £2 billion for eleven green hydrogen production
projects – including the Tees Green Hydrogen project developed by
EDF – to provide cleaner fuel for UK businesses.”
Today’s third winner being announced completes the second round
of Government competition funding for the Tees Valley Hydrogen
Transport Hub following the first round, which awarded over £2.6
million to deploy 21 hydrogen-powered vehicles. The second
competition invited ideas on how to overcome some of the
challenges of scaling-up hydrogen technology, making the region’s
supply chain greener with hydrogen-fuelled vans and HGVs.
Government investment in the Tees Valley Hub will position the
region at the forefront of the hydrogen transport sector,
bringing skills, jobs, exports and growth, and provide evidence
and experience to support future policy, strategy and investment
decisions over the coming years.
Exolum Clean Energies Lead, Andres Suarez said:
“At Exolum we want to be a relevant player in green hydrogen
technology, which is positioning itself as an efficient energy
vector to help decarbonise sectors that are difficult to
electrify, such as heavy-duty mobility.
“This project in the UK comes in addition to others we have under
development and others already fully implemented, such as the
first hydrogen plant for mobility in Madrid, Spain. Thanks to
joint collaboration with other pioneering companies, we will be
able to offer this new technology to the market to drive the
energy transition”.
