The UK has an opportunity to turn its growing hydrogen industry into an engine for regional growth, industrial renewal and energy security - but the time for delivery is now.
Image Credit: Hydrogen Energy Association
That is the message from the Hydrogen Energy Association (HEA) on World Hydrogen Day, as it calls for continued action to give businesses and investors the certainty needed to scale up projects, manufacturing and supply chains across the country.
The Association, which represents close to 100 organizations across the full hydrogen value chain, says Britain already has many of the ingredients needed to build a successful hydrogen economy - industrial expertise, established engineering and manufacturing capability, emerging projects and a workforce with highly transferable skills.
But it says the next phase must be about converting that potential into commercial deployment.
Dr Emma Guthrie, Chief Executive of the Hydrogen Energy Association, said: “World Hydrogen Day should be about more than celebrating the potential of hydrogen. It should be about asking what we need to do now to turn that potential into economic value for the UK.
“The opportunity is significant. Hydrogen can support skilled jobs in our industrial regions, strengthen UK supply chains, attract private investment, improve energy resilience and help businesses decarbonize.
“Those outcomes closely align with the country's wider ambitions for economic growth, industrial renewal and energy security. The hydrogen sector is ready to play its part.
“But opportunity alone does not create investment. Businesses need confidence, and confidence comes from clarity, consistency and a clear long-term direction.
“Now is the moment to maximize hydrogen's industrial and regional growth opportunity.”
The HEA is calling for clear and timely delivery of the policy framework for hydrogen, including progress through the Hydrogen Allocation Rounds, a clear long-term strategic direction for the sector and measures that maximize the value of public support by helping British supply chains grow alongside hydrogen deployment.
The call comes as hydrogen activity becomes increasingly concentrated in some of the UK's traditional industrial heartlands, including the North East, North West, South Wales and Scotland - creating the potential to support skilled employment and new investment in regions central to the UK's industrial future.
The scale of the opportunity was highlighted in the HEA's 2026 State of the Hydrogen Nation report.
Businesses surveyed for the report indicated that the sector could support around 4,000 direct jobs by 2030 under the current trajectory, compared with around 17,000 under an improved policy landscape - more than four times as many.
The report also identified Scotland, North East England and North West England as the three most attractive UK regions for hydrogen investment, underlining the potential relationship between hydrogen deployment and regional industrial growth.
There is a wider supply-chain prize too.
Analysis highlighted by the HEA from the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative suggests that securing a 10% share of the global hydrogen technology market could contribute £46 billion a year to the UK economy by 2050 and support 410,000 jobs.
The HEA argues that the economic case should not be considered solely through the cost of individual hydrogen projects.
Hydrogen production, storage and use can form part of a wider energy system capable of managing renewable intermittency, reducing curtailment, strengthening energy security and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The Association says future decisions should therefore take account of hydrogen's potential impact on whole-system energy costs, alongside its industrial and decarbonization benefits.
Momentum is already building.
Projects across the country are moving from development towards commercial delivery, while the Government's second Hydrogen Allocation Round shortlisted 27 electrolytic hydrogen projects across England, Scotland and Wales.
HEA members are also demonstrating the breadth of the emerging market, from hydrogen production and storage to transport, industrial applications, infrastructure and new production pathways.
Dr Guthrie added: “We are no longer talking about a hypothetical industry. Businesses are investing, projects are being developed and British companies are building expertise that can compete internationally.
“The question is how quickly and how successfully we turn that momentum into a scaled UK market.
“Public support should do more than enable individual projects. Used strategically, programs such as the Hydrogen Allocation Rounds can help stimulate domestic manufacturing, strengthen supply chains and ensure that more of the economic and social value created by hydrogen stays here in Britain.
“That requires Government and industry to continue working closely together. We ultimately want the same things - economic growth, greater energy resilience, thriving industrial regions and a successful transition to a lower-carbon economy.
“On World Hydrogen Day, our message is simple: the opportunity is here. Now is the time to turn ambition into delivery.”
The HEA has been working with parliamentarians and Government to build understanding of the sector and the policy conditions needed for it to grow.
Ahead of the summer recess, its parliamentary campaign resulted in 34 written parliamentary questions being tabled on hydrogen-related issues, helping bring questions around investment, deployment and policy certainty directly into Parliament.
The Association will continue engaging with ministers, parliamentarians and industry to support the development of a competitive UK hydrogen economy.