Enabling businesses and communities to create cross-sector partnerships.

Hydrogen South West enables businesses and communities to create cross-sectoral partnerships that drive the development of hydrogen infrastructure and technology.  

The ecosystem comprises leading brands easyJet, Airbus and EDF; industrial heavyweights GKN; consultants and engineers Costain and Wsp; and regional leaders Bristol Port, Bristol Airport, Wales and West Utilities and Wessex Water.  

This combination of industrial experience, delivery expertise and regional knowledge presents a formidable opportunity to accelerate the UK’s transition to alternative power at scale.   

By decarbonising transport, commerce and power, we can secure the future of key industries, drive sustainable growth and upskill the region. All while making a meaningful contribution to the UK’s net zero 2050 target. 

Beginning in the South West, the lessons learned and the expertise deployed aim to pave the way to decarbonising the UK and showcasing British-led transformation in practice.  

Together we can expand the ecosystem

Helping projects make the strongest case for investment by demonstrating viability and value, building public and political support.  

  • NatWest and BCG report says UK’s energy supply needs over £900 billion investment to reach net zero by 2050

    The UK’s energy supply could require more than £900 billion in capital expenditure to achieve net zero by 20501, opening up a significant opportunity for public and private capital in enabling a successful transition, according to a new report published by NatWest and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) today. Read full story here.

  • Hydrogen South West members turn focus to finance at last quarterly meeting of 2023

    Members of regional cluster Hydrogen South West (HSW) gathered in Bristol on Tuesday (12th December) to discuss the key role of funding and investment in making the region’s nascent hydrogen economy a reality. The members were joined by industry leaders, businesses, and a host of guest speakers at law firm Osborne Clarke’s UK headquarters, where attentions were focused on the challenges around access to finance for hydrogen projects in the region. Read more here.

  • CARLTON POWER SECURES UK GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR ITS LANGAGE GREEN HYDROGEN PROJECT

    Carlton Power, one of the UK’s leading independent energy infrastructure development companies, has been successful in Round One of UK Government’s Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR1). The company’s project at Langage, near Plymouth (as well as its projects at Trafford in Greater Manchester and Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria) has been awarded a financial contract from the UK Department of Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ). Read more here.

  • Hydrogen South West: mapping a visionary path for 2024

    As we look ahead to 2024, Andy Clarke, Chair of Hydrogen South West (HSW), shares his views on what the year has to offer for the UK’s nascent hydrogen industry and what HSW and its members will be doing to drive it forward. The emergence of these trends led us to establish our four working groups, each representing a pillar of progress in the hydrogen space in the South West and the UK as a whole. Read more here:

Why the South West?

With its international connections, world-leading aviation and aerospace sector, and cutting-edge research facilities, the South West is brimming with the talent, resources and connections to make it a perfect home for hydrogen investment.

 

  • Home to an international port and airport, leading nuclear production, cutting-edge aerospace innovation and some of the country’s biggest utilities companies, the South West is already an import and export hub, making it an obvious choice for the roll-out of hydrogen to all areas of the UK.

  • The South West has world-leading universities that attract some of the world’s best talent and the region is home to a highly skilled industrial workforce thanks to industrial heavyweights such as Hinkley Point C, Airbus, Leonardo, Rolls Royce and GKN. The Government’s investment in the West of England Institute of Technology Hub and the Business West Local Skills Improvement Plan, enables industry and academia to define and develop hydrogen training that is essential to the Regional Hydrogen economy. This has been formalized with the Hydrogen South-West Skills Consortium.

  • The South West is home to globally recognised brands from the aerospace, engineering and utilities sectors. Additionally, the region has a vast range of innovative SMEs that are driving change in these key industries that can both contribute to and benefit from the Hydrogen South West ecosystem.

  • Thanks to its ideal geography, the South West is uniquely positioned to create a link between a number of industrial clusters and generate a nationally and internationally connected ecosystem. The region connects South Wales, the M4 corridor, the Midlands and the South West of England with shipping lanes and flight paths that extend across the globe.