First Hydrogen Champion tasked with ramping up hydrogen technology

The Government has appointed Jane Toogood as the UK’s first Hydrogen Champion in support of its efforts to ramp up hydrogen technology and unlock private investment in hydrogen as a “super-fuel of the future”.

Toogood, sector chief executive with multinational speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company Johnson Matthey, will help drive industry investment and deployment “at this critical stage in the early development of the UK hydrogen economy”.

She will also identify current barriers to building a strong UK hydrogen economy and develop creative solutions for how these can be addressed to accelerate the project pipeline and deliver on the UK government commitments.

In announcing the appointment, Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said Toogood will play “a vital role in bringing industry and government together to realise the government’s hydrogen ambitions” – including supporting up to 10GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, aiming to run annual allocation rounds for electrolytic hydrogen, and designing, by 2025, new business models for hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure.

And in reaffirming the government’s vision for the UK to be a hydrogen-based economy – as set out in the Hydrogen Strategy published in August 2021 – Kwarteng said the government is making good progress on unlocking the £9 billion investment needed to make hydrogen a cornerstone of the UK’s greener future, supporting a move away from fossil fuels.

The announcements build upon a number of interventions from BEIS in recent months such as opening applications for the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, publishing the Hydrogen Investor Roadmap, and setting out details for the Hydrogen Business Model and Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard.

Hydrogen Champion Jane 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 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.“

Clare Jackson, Chief Executive of Hydrogen UK, described Jane Toogood’s appointment and the opening of the joint allocation round for green hydrogen projects as “a welcome statement of intent from the government”.