Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Gibson Excerpts

Tuesday 21st September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Andy Carter (Warrington South) (Con)]

11. What steps his Department is taking to support hydrogen production in the UK.

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con)]

20. What steps his Department is taking to support hydrogen production in the UK.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lee Rowley)]

My hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South (Andy Carter) asks a timely question; he may be aware that the United Kingdom recently published a hydrogen strategy outlining the Government’s comprehensive package to incentivise low-carbon hydrogen, and a broader plan to help the wider hydrogen economy to develop.

--- Later in debate ---

[Peter Gibson]

I welcome my hon. Friend to his place. Teesside already produces more than 50% of the UK’s commercially viable hydrogen. What assessment has he made of the benefits of the recently signed deal between BP, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Masdar for the Tees valley? Does he support the phenomenal work being done locally by Ben Houchen to revolutionise our green energy sector?

[Lee Rowley]

The benefits will be huge. This work is another example of the fantastic Conservative Tees valley team led by my hon. Friend, supporting Darlington, and the Mayor, and it demonstrates what we can do in an area to level up and improve it for the long term.