UK Government to spend £5m on ‘hydrogen hub’ and £20m on offshore wind farms to reach net zero emissions. The Government is launching a £20million programme to support the building of floating offshore wind technology, Rishi Sunak announced in today’s Budget.
The Chancellor is hoping the new development, plus other proposals, will help the UK reach its current target of net zero emissions by 2050.
As part of its plans to expand offshore wind technology, the Government will make an offer of support to the Able Marine Energy Park on Humberside to upgrade ports infrastructure for the next generation of offshore wind.
It will also sign a memorandum of understanding with Teesworks Offshore Manufacturing Centre on Teesside, to support the development of another offshore wind port hub.
It is hoped that upgraded ports infrastructure in Humberside will attract investment in offshore wind manufacturing and support up to 3,000 green jobs.
Sunak also announced that the UK would provide £4.8million of funding to support the development of a hydrogen hub in Holyhead, Wales.
This will pilot the creation of hydrogen from renewable energy, which will be used as a zero-emission fuel in HGVs.
Sunak said the project would create up to 500 jobs in Anglesey, Wales.
It is not the Government’s first investment in hydrogen. It also funded two semi-detached show homes in Gateshead – the first to be built with appliances fuelled entirely by the gas.
In the Budget, Sunak also announced a UK-wide competition to implement several first-of-a-kind energy storage prototypes or technology demonstrators. The government will provide £68million of funding for this.
It is hoped this will reduce the cost of net zero by storing excess low-carbon energy over longer periods than is currently possible.
A £4million UK-wide competition will also be launched for the first phase of a biomass feedstocks programme.
This will identify ways to increase the production of green energy crops and forest products that can be used for energy.
