Hydrogen has the potential to play a cross-cutting role in the net zero transition, with an important opportunity for public policy to support scale ups and drive the development of the hydrogen market across the value chain.

The new UK government has expressed support for hydrogen, both in setting overall production targets but also through its public financing ambitions. In the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced funding commitments to allow 11 hydrogen projects across the UK to move to the next stage of development, demonstrating the government’s commitment to hydrogen.

But, for the government’s hydrogen ambition to be credible, careful consideration of where clean hydrogen can play the most cost- and climate-effective role is needed. This balance should be reflected in clear policy and strategy sitting underneath its headline targets and financial commitments. A strategy for not only delivering a large step-up in production, but also supporting the associated offtake demand, and underlying infrastructure to support distribution, is required.

Barclays engaged with key stakeholders across the hydrogen value chain, detailing four key insights in its new policy paper, ‘A pragmatic approach to clean hydrogen’.