The appointment of a hydrogen champion to oversee the development of the hydrogen sector in the UK has been announced by the business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
He was speaking at the Hydrogen Investment Summit as he also announced a new round of funding and reaffirmed the government’s vision for the UK to be a hydrogen-based economy – as set out in the Hydrogen Strategy published in August 2021.
Jane Toogood, chief executive of Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey and co-chair of the Hydrogen Advisory Council will be the UK’s first hydrogen champion with a remit to bring industry and government together to realise the government’s hydrogen ambitions.
Kwarteng said: “The UK’s hydrogen sector is open for business. With the right investment, we can unlock the enormous potential of hydrogen by reindustrialising our economy and ending our dependency on expensive fossil fuels.
“The new funding represents an important step forward in realising this potential, and I look forward to working with Jane Toogood as our new hydrogen champion, ensuring industry and government are aligned to accelerate hydrogen production as a clean, home grown energy source – boosting our energy security and creating jobs.”
Toogood said: “The government has ambitious plans for the UK to ramp up hydrogen technology. Hydrogen deployment as a clean energy source is one of the key solutions to help the UK reach its net zero targets and I strongly believe there is an opportunity to accelerate this, working collaboratively across industry and government to land projects and infrastructure on a timeline that serves stakeholder and customers’ needs.
“At Johnson Matthey, we see that demand for hydrogen ecosystems globally is being taken up across industry, transportation and the power sector at a rapid pace, especially with the increased focus on energy security. As the UK’s hydrogen champion, working with industry and government, I hope to ensure we make progress in building a thriving hydrogen economy ensuring private sector investment and policy decisions are aligned to support timely decisions and outcomes.”
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