Wessex Water has joined a group of big firms in the South West developing a major hydrogen infrastructure across the region.
The company has been announced as the tenth member of Hydrogen South West (HSW), a consortium which spans aerospace, shipping, hi-tech engineering and public utilities.
Aerospace giants Airbus and GKN Aerospace; Bristol Airport; airline Easyjet; Bristol Port; consultants and engineers Costain and Wood; energy giant EDF’s hydrogen subsidiary Hynamics; and Wales and West Utilities have all already signed up for the scheme, announced in June.
HSW is looking to enable cross-sector partnerships to produce, utilise, capture, store and transport the element across the area, as part of efforts to decarbonise industry and drive regional growth.
Wessex Water, which serves 2.8 million customers across the South West, said water management was expected to undergo “significant changes” as a result of the climate crisis.
Chief operating officer, John Thompson, said: “Wessex Water is committed to achieving net zero operational carbon emissions by 2030 and full de-carbonisation of all aspects of our work by 2040, a decade ahead of the UK government’s 2050 target.
“It is absolutely essential that we all work together across the South West to achieve these aims and therefore we are very keen to be part of HSW and to be collaborating with some of the other large infrastructure and transport organisations in the region.”
HSW is set to support a government target to generate 10 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
The group has said through driving investment and innovation in decarbonising technology, the South West could be poised to become “a centre of excellence” for hydrogen expertise.
Several pilot projects are planned for the initiative, including:
- a study into the possibility of a hydrogen production facility at Bristol Port;
- Easyjet’s plans to introduce introduce hydrogen powered ground support equipment at Bristol Airport;
- and Airbus’ hydrogen research hub at its base in Filton, South Gloucestershire which will support its ambitions to develop the world's first zero-emission commercial aircraft by 2035.
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