The Humber: the obvious choice for Britain’s first hydrogen heartland
National Gas
| Humber Hydrogen
With Britain’s hydrogen ambitions gaining pace, National Gas sets out why the Humber’s geography, industrial heritage and skilled workforce make it the natural home for the UK’s first integrated hydrogen network
As the home of British industry, the Humber is the obvious choice for the UK’s first integrated hydrogen network.
Hydrogen has a critical role to play in meeting Britain’s energy needs – from decarbonising hard-to-electrify industries such as steel and glass manufacturing, to enabling clean power generation, to providing feedstock for high-value products such as ammonia and Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
The government will soon launch a competitive process for £500m of investment through the Hydrogen Transport and Storage Business Models.
The Humber: Britain’s hydrogen opportunity
Home to pioneering advances such as the landing of the first North Sea gas at Easington in 1967 and one of the country’s oldest chemicals parks at Saltend, the Humber has become a centre for oil refining, petrochemicals, power generation, gas storage and offshore wind – all of which play a vital role in Britain’s economy and energy security.
Nearly six decades on, the region is ready to build on its proud heritage and deliver on the next phase of Britain’s energy transition, with a highly skilled workforce and established projects developing modern infrastructure at pace.
The region’s connected geography, natural salt caverns, heavy industrial base and skilled workforce make it the ideal location for large-scale hydrogen infrastructure development.
The Humber industrial cluster contributes £18bn to the economy each year and supports hundreds of thousands of high-value jobs.1
Humber Hydrogen: the deliverable plan for Britain’s hydrogen heartland
Through the Humber Hydrogen partnership, National Gas, Centrica, Equinor and SSE Thermal are bringing their expertise in hydrogen transport, production, usage and storage to develop a first-of-its-kind coordinated hydrogen network in Britain.
Humber Hydrogen will be an integrated network of hydrogen production, transport and storage across East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. By supporting hard-to-electrify sectors, unlocking clean power and meeting existing feedstock demand in the chemicals and refining industries, our partnership will anchor long-term industrial activity, attract investment, protect and create skilled jobs and reduce emissions – all while bolstering Britain’s energy security.
Working in partnership with local industry leaders such as the Humber Energy Board, British Steel and global ammonia and fertiliser producer Yara, alongside elected representatives from across the political spectrum and local trade unions including the GMB, we are ready to propel the Humber into a new era of global leadership in low-carbon industry.
Together, we’re backing the Humber.
Three reasons to back the Humber
- Britain’s biggest opportunity for large-scale and rapid industrial decarbonisation. The Humber Industrial Cluster is the biggest CO₂ emitter in the UK.
- Bolstering the UK’s energy security, industrial resilience and global competitiveness. Power stations in the region are considering investing in more than 4GW hydrogen-to-power – that’s more than 10 per cent of Britain’s average electricity demand. This could be supplied by up to five green and two blue independent hydrogen projects.
- The Humber’s unique advantages. The Humber’s geology is a key asset – 65 per cent of the UK’s total potential new-build storage capacity for hydrogen is in East Yorkshire. Natural salt caverns at Aldbrough are already used for existing gas storage and this will be adapted and extended with new caverns for safe hydrogen storage.
Humber Hydrogen project data, National Gas
Reference
- Humber Industrial Cluster Plan and UK Research and Innovation; Humber Industrial Cluster Plan (2023), Together it is possible
