Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much, in total, they have committed to the development of a green hydrogen economy over the next five years.

The Government is committed to exploring the option of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier. This includes business models to support the deployment of, and investment in, low carbon hydrogen production and a £100m Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund, announced in August 2019 to stimulate capital investment. In parallel we are currently investing up to £121 million, between 2015 and 2021, in hydrogen innovation, supporting a range of projects exploring the potential of low carbon hydrogen across the value chain. This includes investment in green hydrogen both through innovation funding and other grants. An example is our support for the industrialisation of production processes at the new ITM Power Gigafactory being built in Sheffield which when complete will be the largest electrolyser manufacturing facility in the world.

The Treasury has recently announced the Comprehensive Spending Review 2020, that will allow the government to consider its priorities across all spending over multiple years. Support to develop technologies that will support the government’s ambition to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is a priority.