North East gets new funding for hydrogen transport

A £8m government competition to support hydrogen-powered transport in the North East will assist with lower carbon deliveries and air transport, it has been announced.

Two new projects received a share of the cash pot from the government’s hydrogen funding scheme include a project by ULEMCo, to develop hydrogen-powered airport ground-based support vehicles, such as tow trucks and sweepers, at Teesside international airport, which will help the airport reach its goal of being net zero by 2030.

Another of the winning projects was Element 2, which will create new hydrogen refuelling stations to help scale-up the technology. The cash will create four new publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations, increasing the number of refuelling stations in the UK by 50%. These will be used to fuel a range of vehicles, from airside vehicles to heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), including supermarket delivery trucks. The announcement also sees £300,000 delivered to colleges in the area to support the local workforce and create specialised skills base for hydrogen.

The cash is the second round of government competition funding for the Tees Valley hydrogen transport hub with the first competition seeing more than £2.6m awarded to 21 hydrogen-powered vehicles. One previous winner was Toyota, which provided hydrogen vehicles for local police forces, and Hydrogen Vehicle Systems, which developed a hydrogen-powered van for large supermarkets to deliver large-scale groceries.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Hydrogen technology has great potential to decarbonise transport and help grow the economy. Today’s winners illustrate the expertise the Tees Valley has as a pioneer in developing hydrogen tech. This investment will provide a further boost to the economy, creating skilled jobs and apprenticeships across the North East.”

Phil Forster, Managing Director of Teesside International Airport, said: “This hydrogen refuelling station does just that, by proving this new technology is safe and reliable, and can be used across all sorts of applications. This makes it clear Teesside is helping to pioneer both the aviation industry and the clean energy sector.”

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “We were one of the first areas to trial hydrogen fuels and this is continuing to pay off as we’ve been successful in securing this permanent refuelling station.

“Our airport and, indeed, our whole region continues to be at the forefront of the UK’s net zero ambitions and this hydrogen station is another step forward to supporting the cleaner, healthier and safer industries of tomorrow. It backs up everything we’re doing in our low-carbon journey, including supporting the production and adoption of sustainable aviation fuel – one of the biggest issues facing the industry right now.

“The aim to have Teesside airport operationally net zero by 2030 is only the beginning. We’re still pioneering offshore, carbon capture and renewable technologies over at Teesworks, to truly cement Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool as the place to do business in innovative and clean technologies.”

Innovate UK Executive Director for Net Zero, Mike Biddle, said: “Today’s announcement of these new projects in the Tees Valley further adds to our significant partnership with DfT to accelerate new technologies to decarbonise transport. This includes nearly £300 million of investment from DfT via Innovate UK in transport decarbonisation across maritime, heavy goods vehicles and hydrogen.

“Place-based innovation like this is vital to invigorate local economies like the Tees Valley. These projects are an important investment to decarbonise transport and a boost for local innovation, investment, skills and business growth.”

Image courtesy of the UK Government

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