Plans for hydrogen town pilot shelved as government reassesses

The government has announced that it will not be progressing plans for a major hydrogen town pilot in the UK.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero indicated that more time is needed to assess the role of hydrogen in decarbonising Britain’s heating systems. The proposed trial town was aimed at converting an entire community to run on hydrogen for heating homes and businesses.

The decision comes after the National Infrastructure Commission recommended last year that the government should not support the rollout of hydrogen heating. This follows the recent abandonment of proposals for two hydrogen village pilot projects in Redcar/Whitby and Ellesmere Port, which faced local opposition.

In a statement, DESNZ said: “We believe that low carbon hydrogen may have a role to play in heat decarbonisation, alongside heat pumps and heat networks, but in slower time in some locations. We plan to take a decision in 2026 on whether, and if so how, hydrogen will contribute to heating decarbonisation.”

The department aims to consider evidence from its wider research programme, the neighbourhood trial in Fife, and similar schemes across Europe, to take this decision.

Commenting on X (formerly Twitter), Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance Lord Callanan said: “We have decided not to progress work on a hydrogen town pilot until after 2026 decisions on the role of hydrogen for heating. Heat pumps and heat networks will be the main route to cutting household emissions for the foreseeable future.”

Reaction from the UK heating sector has been largely welcoming of the announcement.

David Cowdrey, director of external affairs at the MCS Foundation, says:

“This decision confirms that heat pumps and low-carbon heat networks are the only viable solution for decarbonising heating at scale. Heat pump installations in the UK have been growing in the last few years, but we need long-term policy certainty to ramp up the market. Today’s announcement should be followed with a commitment to a massive public awareness campaign to increase heat pump uptake. The government must also take levies off electricity prices so that heat pumps are always cheaper to run than gas boilers, which would address fuel poverty while helping meet climate targets.”

James Standley, CTO at Kensa, has said halting plans for a hydrogen village “is further recognition that the technology has no major role to play in future home heating”.

“Every academic study on the issue, the economics and the physics demonstrates this, and the government should now take the next logical step and rule out hydrogen heating for anything other than a small number of very specific cases. It’s clear that the best and quickest way to achieve clean heat while ensuring the best outcomes for consumers will be through electrification, whether that’s using heat pumps or heat networks. The longer hydrogen remains part of the conversation, the further the transition will be delayed, hampering the speed at which these already proven technologies are rolled out.”

Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), adds:

“Industry has long been calling for direction on the future of heating from government, and today’s announcement is the clearest signal yet – hydrogen heating will only have a minor role, if any at all.

”This paves the way for more investment into electric heat pumps, which boost energy security by lowering the amount of gas we need, which will increasingly come from abroad as the North Sea continues its decline, we need to heat our homes. The US and Europe are already installing heat pumps in their millions in response to the gas crisis that has already cost the UK over £100bn, and it looks like we might be starting to catch up.”