Government halts pilot ‘hydrogen town’ project

THE Government has halted plans for a pilot “hydrogen town” project to heat thousands of homes in one area with low carbon gas by the end of the decade.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said it would not progress with the hydrogen town pilot until after 2026, when “strategic decisions” on the role of hydrogen in decarbonising heat will be made.

Proposals for a pilot town heated by hydrogen instead of polluting natural gas were first outlined as part of Boris Johnson’s 10-point plan in 2020 for a “green industrial revolution” to cut climate emissions to zero overall, known as net zero.

In 2022 gas distribution networks were invited to put forward outline plans for a scheme involving at least 10,000 properties, for the Government to deliver plans by 2025 for a possible pilot hydrogen town by the end of the decade.

But a number of studies and experts have said hydrogen – which can be low carbon, depending on how it is produced, and potentially piped through the existing gas network into buildings for use in hydrogen boilers – will only have a small role to play in heating homes and other buildings in the future.

Last year, the National Infrastructure Commission recommended the Government should not support the rollout of hydrogen heating. The move to halt plans for a hydrogen town come after proposals for two hydrogen villages, in Redcar and Whitby, Ellesmere Port, which faced local opposition, were abandoned.

Energy efficiency minister Lord Callanan said: “We have decided not to progress work on a hydrogen town pilot until after 2026 decisions on the role of hydrogen for heating. Heat pumps and heat networks will be the main route to cutting household emissions for the foreseeable future.”