The green energy arm of his Fortescue Metals Group had said it was on track to be the biggest supplier of green hydrogen to the UK, after completing a deal in 2021 with Lord Bamford’s digger manufacturer JCB and the hydrogen distribution firm Ryze Power, founded by Bamford’s son Jo.
Green hydrogen is made by using electricity to separate water into its component parts of hydrogen and oxygen, using machines called electrolysers powered by renewable sources such as solar panels or wind turbines.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson, who launched the UK’s first hydrogen strategy in 2021, envisaged a future where British households would be able to cook their breakfast with hydrogen gas.
Ed Miliband has put the ‘low-carbon hydrogen economy’ at the heart of his mission to secure plentiful clean energy in the UK – but events in Australia suggest his dream may in fact be a mirage.
Given BP, in common with other oil majors, has been watering down its green energy commitments (it said in November it was dumping 18 early stage hydrogen schemes), the project’s future is far from certain.
