Proposed Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator programme - Engagement Session

UPDATE 28 Feb:

The Expression of Interest for the Programme is now open. The purpose of this EOI is to raise early awareness of the proposed competition and to gauge the level of interest, enabling BEIS to gain a better understanding of the range of potential applicants. If you may be interested in applying to this competition, please complete the BEIS Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme EOI Form to express interest at tinyurl.com/2fa6h2k4

Programme overview

The Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator (IHA) competition is a proposed innovation funding programme that would support the demonstration of end-to-end industrial fuel switching to hydrogen. It aims to prove the feasibility and reduce the costs and risks of hydrogen fuel switching systems. The scope would include the full technology chain, from hydrogen generation and delivery infrastructure through to industrial end-use, including the integration of the components in a single project.

The projects would develop knowledge on the design and implementation of hydrogen systems for industry to showcase 'first-of-a-kind' blueprints to enable accelerated deployment in the late 2020s and support the UK's 2030 5GW hydrogen production ambition. The funding would aim to catalyse the hydrogen economy through enabling early industrial movers. It would further aim to develop stakeholder knowledge, confidence and awareness. The resulting evidence would be vital to kickstart industrial hydrogen fuel switching deployment, supporting the UK's leading global role in the sector.

The Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Programme is proposed to form part of BEIS' £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, announced in the Prime Minister's 10 Point Plan in autumn 2020. This innovation portfolio runs until March 2025 and aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s.

The proposed Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator would support projects through providing funding for demonstrators and, where needed, feasibility studies. • The feasibility studies would explore how systems could be designed and provide information on the technical requirements and costs. • The demonstration projects would construct end-to-end industrial hydrogen systems, from hydrogen production to end-use, to prove their feasibility and provide further evidence on the real-world performance and costs. The expected scale of demonstrations is likely to be of the order 1-10MW.

The evidence generated by the IHA on the use of hydrogen by industrial users would help inform strategic decisions in 2026 on the role of low carbon hydrogen as a replacement for natural gas in the gas grid. For more information please see the UK Hydrogen Strategy published August here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-hydrogen-strategy

More information on the Proposed Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-hydrogen-accelerator-programme

Additional information: Details of Early Stakeholder Engagement Session

A virtual stakeholder engagement session is planned on 8 March 2022 to provide any interested parties with the opportunity to understand more about the potential competition and to provide feedback on the proposed programme design. The session will also outline the role of BEIS, NZIP and the proposed Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator programme in meeting the government's climate objectives, and the policy context surrounding this technology area.

Potential bidders will not be prejudiced by any response to this notice, or failure to respond. This notice does not formally signify the beginning of a procurement and does not constitute a commitment by BEIS to undertake any procurement exercise. In the event that BEIS decides to formally commence a procurement or call for proposals, a separate notice will be issued.

Equally, non-attendance at the Supplier Day does not preclude you from further involvement in the tender process.

To ensure a broad range of feedback on the proposed programme design, BEIS encourages attendance from potential suppliers across the hydrogen and industrial fuel switching landscape including, but not limited to:

Industrial sites

Hydrogen generation equipment manufacturers / suppliers

Hydrogen end-use equipment manufacturers / suppliers

Hydrogen project developers 

Research/ Consultancy/ Hydrogen experts 

Please note: An opportunity to provide feedback on the competition design will also be available after the session. Stakeholders can submit their feedback to the Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator team via email at [email protected] in the days following the event. This window will close on 12 noon Friday 18th March 2022 and BEIS is not intending to respond to any individual feedback provided, but will review all feedback and where appropriate, may take feedback into account in the development of any potential ITT or call for proposals.

Slides presented by BEIS will be made publicly available after the session.

To attend the event, please register via Eventbrite at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/proposed-industrial-hydrogen-accelerator-programme-engagement-session-tickets-266806364017

A joining link to the event will be shared with registered attendees.

Further information will be shared on the competition webpage on the .gov webpage once available.