Recalibrating UK hydrogen towards a demand-led, systems-based approach

The UK's current hydrogen strategy is criticised for misaligning production targets with actual demand, leading to high public costs and inefficient funding. The author recommends prioritising hydrogen for industrial clusters and low-carbon fuels, strengthening methane emission standards, and redesigning the Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR) to support the entire value chain from production to end-use.

• The UK's target of 10 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 is misaligned with demand; while the target was doubled from 5 GW, official analysis suggested a maximum demand of 38 TWh for 2030, whereas the original 5 GW target was projected to supply 42 TWh.
• There is a significant gap between estimated and actual production costs; the 2021 government estimate for the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH) was £110/MWh, but the weighted average strike price for HAR1 in 2023 was £241/MWh.

APA

Cohen, P. (2025). Recalibrating UK hydrogen towards a demand-led, systems-based approach. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/resource/recalibrating-uk-hydrogen-towards-a-demand-led-systems-based-approach/

Chicago

Cohen, Phil. Recalibrating UK hydrogen towards a demand-led, systems-based approach. Clean Air Task Force, 2025. https://www.catf.us/resource/recalibrating-uk-hydrogen-towards-a-demand-led-systems-based-approach/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cohen |first1=Phil |title=Recalibrating UK hydrogen towards a demand-led, systems-based approach |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=17 November 2025 |url=https://www.catf.us/resource/recalibrating-uk-hydrogen-towards-a-demand-led-systems-based-approach/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cohen2025recalibrating, author = {Cohen, Phil}, title = {{Recalibrating UK hydrogen towards a demand-led, systems-based approach}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://www.catf.us/resource/recalibrating-uk-hydrogen-towards-a-demand-led-systems-based-approach/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }