Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of progressing Hydrogen Allocation Round 2 ahead of the publication of the forthcoming refreshed UK Hydrogen Strategy.

We are working hard across government to start the Invite to Offer stage of HAR2 as soon as possible and will be in touch with projects when this commences. We are committed to announcing successful HAR2 projects in 2026.

Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 (HAR1) projects are now moving through to the final investment decision, construction and operation phases, with the first project expected to begin commercial operations soon.

HAR1 is expected to unlock around £400 million of private investment and create over 600 direct jobs.