Hydrogen Supply Chains
The UK government must do more to support domestic supply chains for the hydrogen industry and attract manufacturing capacity — or risk subsidising projects that primarily benefit the supply chains of other countries.
As the hydrogen sector is still emerging, the UK Hydrogen Strategy acknowledges that government intervention is required to accelerate adoption.
Three consistent themes arose with regards to government schemes. The first theme was that support mechanisms across the hydrogen value chain are at different levels of maturity.
Many respondents commended the Hydrogen Production Business Model and subsequent Hydrogen Allocation Rounds. It was felt these initiatives have sent positive signals to the international supply chain on the level of UK demand. However, many respondents
voiced concerns that business model and funding support for other areas like distribution, storage and end uses like power are not yet in place which is undermining investment and supply chain development.
In fact, many companies across the hydrogen value chain hadn’t engaged with a UK supply chain for this reason so couldn’t provide a view on UK supply chain maturity. A consistent suggestion from industry to alleviate this issue would be setting the schedule for funding schemes
3-5 years in advance to help support early supply chain engagement.
Business Opportunities for the Hydrogen Economy
