Partnership plan to explore hydrogen manufacturing and refuelling plant

Shropshire Council is working with partners to explore the opportunity of forming a consortium with the aim of developing a small-scale hydrogen manufacturing and refuelling plant in the county.

The council is hosting a workshop with key stakeholders including academics and commercial experts to share knowledge and understanding of how a demonstrator unit could be developed in the county.

The hydrogen produced would then fuel commercial vehicles such as lorries and buses, helping to dramatically reduce emissions from such vehicles.

Shrewsbury, because of its location next to the A5 international transport corridor, has previously been identified as one of the region’s top 10 sites for hydrogen refuelling facilities.

Ian Nellins refuelling a hydrogen-powered vehicle in Tyseley.

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for climate change, environment and transport, said:-

“Shropshire Council is very much looking to the future and exploring a number of innovative projects to help manage its own carbon footprint and influence carbon reduction countywide.

“I am delighted we are working with key-stakeholders to pull together a broad range of expertise and knowledge with a view to forming a consortium capable of delivering a small-scale hydrogen manufacturing and refuelling plant for Shropshire.

“By working in partnership we can draw on a range of skill sets and will be able to access different funding streams to allow progress on this project.”

The Shropshire team has previously visited one of the region’s first such facilities at Tyseley in Birmingham to learn more.

Key stakeholders such as HyDEX, Kier, Protium, Veolia and Midlands Connect will be participating in the workshop.

Dr Sharon George, principal investigator for the HyDEX programme, said:-

“I am very pleased that HyDEX is able to help Shropshire Council with their hydrogen initiatives. The HyDEX programme is all about bringing together our academic specialists with partners in business and the public sector to share expertise and exchange knowledge and ideas.”

Further information

HyDEX

The Hydrogen Development and Knowledge Exchange (HyDEX) programme aims to support and foster the creation of a new hydrogen industrial economy in the Midlands.  The £4.99m three-year programme, funded via the Research England Development Fund, brings together seven university partners who are making available to businesses their £111m worth of hydrogen demonstration facilities and research capabilities.

HyDEX is working with business partners to accelerate innovation, build markets and support the required skills transition. While civic partners such as Midlands Engine, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), and local government, are contributing to support the creation of a market for low-carbon hydrogen solutions as part of the net-zero transition.

HyDEX has been engaging with councils across the Midlands region on plans to produce a hydrogen toolkit which will offer advice and assist them to make the best of the opportunities which hydrogen presents.  In conjunction with the development of the toolkit, HyDEX is supporting several individual local authorities, including Shropshire Council through an expert workshop.

Protium

Protium is a UK-based hydrogen solutions provider for project operators, developers and investors. Founded in 2019, the company provides services including project origination, design and funding to support the deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.