A town-scale pilot of using hydrogen for home heating has been halted. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced on 9 May that it has paused the trial until ministers have made a strategic decision on the role of hydrogen in decarbonising heat, which is due in 2026.
The town trial was intended to be the culmination of a series of progressively bigger exercises. However, plans for smaller-scale village trials in the northwest of England and Redcar have been abandoned over the past 18 months. The government has said that low carbon hydrogen may have a role to play in heat decarbonisation, alongside heat pumps and heat networks.
Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said the cancellation of the trial ‘paves the way for more investment’ in heat pumps. ‘The announcement is the clearest signal yet – hydrogen heating will only have a minor role [in the future of heating in the UK], if any at all,’ she added.
