The government has withdrawn its offer of grant funding to gas distribution companies to set up a pilot 鈥榟ydrogen town鈥� heating project by 2030.
This follows consideration of the future of the work in light of the decision in December 2023 not to proceed with the hydrogen village trial in Redcar.
In an update yesterday, the government said: 鈥淲e believe that low carbon hydrogen may have a role to play in heat decarbonisation, alongside heat pumps and heat networks, but in slower time in some locations. We plan to take a decision in 2026 on whether, and if so how, hydrogen will contribute to heating decarbonisation.
鈥淲e will assess evidence from our wider research programme, the neighbourhood trial in Fife and similar schemes across Europe, to take this decision.鈥�
With heating in buildings accounting for more than 20% of national carbon emissions, the government is keen to promote low carbon alternatives to oil and gas but uncertainty surrounding hydrogen is pushing it towards heat pumps as its preferred long-term solution.
James Standley, chief technology officer of heat pump manufacturer Kensa Group, said: 鈥淗alting the development of a hydrogen village is further recognition that the technology has no major role to play in future home heating. Every academic study on the issue, the economics and the physics demonstrates this, and the government should now take the next logical step and rule out hydrogen heating for anything other than a small number of very specific cases.
鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that the best and quickest way to achieve clean heat while ensuring the best outcomes for consumers will be through electrification, whether that鈥檚 using heat pumps or heat networks. The longer hydrogen remains part of the conversation, the further the transition will be delayed, hampering the speed at which these already proven technologies are rolled out.鈥�
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