The UK Government has announced £7m in funding for a green hydrogen transport hub that will grow the economy and boost jobs in the North East of England.
The funding has been awarded to fuel distributor Exolum to build a green hydrogen refuelling station near Middlesbrough. The hub will initially serve at least 25 new zero-emission heavy goods vehicles making deliveries.
The project will allow thousands of goods to be sustainably delivered in the area, such as supermarket groceries and new clothes.
The Tees Valley hydrogen transport hub is the first of its kind in the country, showing how green hydrogen can be used in transport. The move will not only improve air quality for residents in the Tees Valley but support hundreds of skilled UK jobs.
Technology and Decarbonisation Minister Anthony Browne 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.”
Funding for UK hydrogen projects
Tees Valley Combined Authority will use £300,000 of government funding to run a competition for Tees Valley colleagues and training institutions to purchase hydrogen training equipment to upskill the local workforce.
The funding announced today follows the first two winning projects led by ULEMCo and Element 2. These projects will develop hydrogen-powered airport ground-based support vehicles and create new hydrogen refuelling stations.
The three winning projects will boost hydrogen-powered transport in Tees Valley. The hydrogen transport hub is creating significant levels of interest in the industry. A number of developers have now announced their intentions to build large-scale green hydrogen production in the area.
Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, said: “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.”
Second round of funding for the hydrogen transport hub
The announcement of the third winner completes the second round of government competition funding for the Tees Valley hydrogen transport hub. The first round awarded over £2.6m to deploy 21 hydrogen powered vehicles.
The second competition invited ideas on how to overcome some of the challenges of scaling up hydrogen technology. Overcoming these barriers would make the region’s supply chain greener with hydrogen-fuelled transport.
The investment in the hydrogen transport hub will place Tees Valley at the forefront of the sector, fostering skills, jobs, exports, and growth.
It will also provide evidence to support policy strategy and investment in the future.
