Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had representatives of the (a) energy and (b) transport sector about the role a hydrogen hub can play in supporting the wider growth of the UK hydrogen economy.
We are aware of the value in co-locating low carbon hydrogen supply and demand in the early stages of expansion in any hydrogen economy; an approach sometimes referred to as a hydrogen hub. Ministers and officials are engaging extensively with hydrogen and wider energy stakeholders as we develop a UK Hydrogen Strategy for publication in early 2021. Discussions include ways in which to coordinate supply and demand and attract early investment as the hydrogen market develops, including place based approaches.
We have also explored the role of hydrogen in helping to decarbonise transport as part of a series of stakeholder workshops helping to develop the Transport Decarbonisation Plan due to be published before the end of the year.