East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire have a rich industrial history. £18 billion of the UK economy is generated in the region each year, with 360,000 jobs supported by industries such as refining, petrochemicals, manufacturing and power generation.  

As the biggest cluster for industrial and power carbon emissions in the UK, it needs a low‑carbon solution to retain its industrial competitiveness, attract investment and support skilled jobs.  

This is where hydrogen offers a solution. It can provide feedstock for high-value products such as ammonia and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). It’s also an alternative fuel to natural gas in industrial settings that can decarbonise power generation and hard-to-electrify industries such as heavy manufacturing, chemicals and steel production.   

Centrica and Equinor are among the companies advancing hydrogen gas production from natural gas with carbon capture (blue hydrogen) and from renewable electricity such as solar and wind (green hydrogen). In the Humber there are seven projects that have the capability of producing up to 1GW of green hydrogen and 2GW of blue hydrogen in the near term. This represents the fastest potential scale-up of hydrogen anywhere in Britain.

What the region also offers is plenty of hydrogen storage capacity. According to the Humber Energy Board the region’s hydrogen storage capacity could power 2 million UK homes for a year. Equinor and SSE Thermal’s Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage is a development with an initial capacity up to 420 million m³ of hydrogen, providing strategic balancing for hydrogen supply and demand. This is equivalent to the amount of gas in Britain’s entire gas system on a peak day.

As a region that is well resourced to meet Britain’s hydrogen potential, together with Centrica, Equinor, and SSE we have launched a coordinated bid to develop Britain’s first regional hydrogen transport and storage network in the Humber.

Together as Humber Hydrogen we will enter a competitive process that will determine where the UK’s first integrated hydrogen network is built. Later this year we will submit proposals for the Humber Hydrogen Pipeline and Aldbrough Hydrogen Storage, to the Government’s Hydrogen Transport and Storage Business Model processes.  

Together we’re bringing proven delivery experience across the full hydrogen value chain, along with a shared commitment to the Humber’s role as Britain’s hydrogen heartland.

To find out more and get involved, visit the Humber Hydrogen website.