Hydrogen East puts region on road to next generation fuels

It represents the entire hydrogen value chain and is advancing the hydrogen economy, enabling the energy transition and supporting supply chain opportunities.

In 2023, Hydrogen East, supported by Opergy, was re-established as the regional hydrogen cluster representing the east and southeast.

In a fast-evolving sector, it collaborates locally, regionally and nationally with other clusters to proactively and positively support national project developments to realise the opportunities presented by hydrogen and next generation fuels.

Andy Holyland, managing director at Opergy (Image: Opergy Group)
May 2024 marks Hydrogen East’s one year anniversary as an industry-led regional cluster. It is operated as a Joint Industry Programme and governed via an Industry Advisory Group (IAG), represented by 18 organisations from across the hydrogen value chain and a further 16 supportive partners representing other sector groups, industry bodies, public sector and research and technology organisations.

Hydrogen East had an extremely successful first year, building a committed, strong and action driven cluster, establishing leadership and collaboration in delivery.

Steve Ross, associate director of energy systems at Opergy, has been appointed as the cluster manager, and Hydrogen East is extremely grateful to have Anne Haase, energy transition, commercial and strategy director at Aquaterra Energy, as the cluster chair, and Mark Turner, business development director at Hydrogenus Group, as the deputy chair.

The final jigsaw piece and deliverable of 23/24 is the completion of a regional hydrogen economic roadmap.

Hydrogen East is a regional hydrogen cluster representing the east and southeast. (Image: Opergy Net Zero)
Hydrogen East identified very early the need to represent and acknowledge the entire hydrogen value chain. This includes the challenges and opportunities presented by natural resources, notably water, and also the need to appropriately identify the fuels of the future: What next generation fuels are going to be required by who, where, when, how and why.

With this in mind, Hydrogen East is working with the Institute for Manufacturing and representatives from the Universities of Cambridge and other academic institutions to answer these questions, as well as consulting with a variety of stakeholders to develop a credible hydrogen and next generation fuels economic roadmap.

The commitment to deliver this piece of work has been an objective since day one of the cluster. It is important research to demonstrate and support developers, operators and end-users to better understand which next generation fuel type will be most desirable and appropriate for each sector group, and for applications across varying geographical locations.

This is essential to not only raise confidence and de-risk investments, but to enable and promote proactive decision making and the necessary development of assets and infrastructure to meet requirements and deliver the energy transition.

Steve Ross, associate director of energy systems at Opergy, has been appointed as the cluster manager (Image: Hydrogenus)
In early May, an academic workshop with a cohort of academics, researchers and industry stakeholders, focused on discussing, debating and answering questions such as: What are the hydrogen value chain opportunities? What are the current perceived barriers? Is the current narrative reflective of the actual situation? What regional characteristics facilitate a strong hydrogen and next generation fuels economy? And what additional resources and capabilities are needed?

Following the outputs from the academic workshop, a cross sector stakeholder workshop will be held in early June. This workshop will involve around 100 stakeholders and has two aims.

The first is to collectively utilise blue sky thinking to encourage the exploration of new ideas and opportunities to define a vision for hydrogen and next generation fuels for the region.

The second aim will be to consider the current identified priority areas, agriculture, transport and mobility, aviation and infrastructure against the findings and outputs from the academic workshop to confirm the relevance, the opportunity, and the potential for hydrogen and next generation fuels.

Mark Turner, business development director at Hydrogenus Group (Image: Opergy Group)
To conclude, a final landscaping workshop will be facilitated by the Institute for Manufacturing in mid-June, this will include around 40 senior cross sector stakeholders to develop the trends and drivers and further build on the subsequent activities to clearly define a Hydrogen and Next Generation Fuels Economic Roadmap 2040 for the east and southeast of England.

This roadmap will enable the creation of a two-year prospectus, to be published in Q3 2024 that Hydrogen East and stakeholders will adopt and utilise to deliver a viable hydrogen economy and position the region as a global leader in hydrogen and next generation fuels.

For more information, please contact mail@hydrogeneast.uk