Collins said: “I think it is fair to say that the UK government’s original hydrogen strategy set out the UK’s stall to become a world-leader in producing, transporting, storing, and utilising low-carbon hydrogen. In that respect, it’s taken a holistic approach to looking at how to develop that market. However, the number of consultations, initiatives, and funding pots evident in the latest hydrogen strategy update perhaps suggest that its efforts to look at every aspect of the market are getting in the way of moving the initial projects into construction.”

“There is still a lot of interest and opportunity in the UK market, but inevitably developers, funders and suppliers are considering whether other jurisdictions are a better bet. It is important that the UK continues to build and accelerate momentum, or it’ll find that the market capacity needed to develop the promised projects has gone elsewhere,” he said.

Earlier this year, the government announced 20 electrolytic hydrogen projects had been shortlisted for support through the Hydrogen Production Business Model (HPBM) and Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF). Last month, alongside its latest hydrogen strategy update, the UK government confirmed that initial due diligence in relation to those shortlisted had been completed and that it had invited 17 projects to enter into contractual negotiations with it. Those awarded contracts stand to obtain government support for their projects. The 17 projects account for 262MW of low carbon hydrogen production in total.

The government further confirmed that a second allocation round is scheduled to open later this year. Its hydrogen strategy update also provided news on action the government has taken in respect of exploring hydrogen’s potential uses – in industry, in the power sector, in heat, and in transport. It reflected on legislative initiatives, such as the progress of the Energy Bill through parliament, to consultations held, and competitive funding initiatives.

One recent consultation response published by the government concerned business model designs, regulatory arrangements, strategic planning and the role of blending in the context of hydrogen transport and storage. Alongside that paper, the government set out policy positions it said it is “minded to” adopt.

Among other things, the government said it is minded to endorse a ‘regulated asset base’-based business model to support growth of the UK hydrogen market, to help meet its target of scaling up hydrogen production capacity in the UK to 10GW by 2030. Regulated asset financing is where a regulated ‘public’ asset and its associated income stream is used to secure private finance.