As we look to reduce emissions across the economy, the decarbonisation of transport remains one of the biggest challenges. It is also one of the biggest opportunities – especially for places like North West Wales.
While electrification has a clear role to play, it is not a catch-all solution. Hydrogen can help fill that gap, particularly for heavy transport, logistics and industrial users.
That’s why we at Menter Môn are developing the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub – a project that we believe can deliver long-term environmental and economic benefits for the region. It’s a partnership with Hynamics, a subsidiary of EDF, and we’re proud to be working together on what will be a 50-50 collaboration.
At its heart, the Hydrogen Hub will use renewable energy from sister project, Morlais tidal energy to power a five megawatt electrolyser, producing around 2,000 kilogrammes of green hydrogen per day. It’s a £25 million capital investment, and we’re already in a strong position, with land acquired, planning consent secured, and early development work made possible thanks to funding from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Welsh Government.
We now have most of the ingredients in place. What we need next is an off-taker – someone to buy the hydrogen – to move the project forward to full investment decision. Until that’s in place, securing wider benefits we see for the region remain a challenge.
Holyhead is well suited to this kind of development. It’s the UK’s second busiest container port, with high volumes of freight and shipping traffic every day. That presents a clear opportunity to use hydrogen locally, cutting emissions from the very sectors where electrification is least practical. It also means we can maximise the impact of the fuel by linking it directly to where it’s needed, rather than transporting it over long distances.
More broadly, this is part of our effort to build economic relevance for North Wales in future growth sectors. Renewable energy is one of the most dynamic areas of global investment, and we believe that a strong local energy portfolio – including hydrogen, tidal, and solar – can help attract higher-value industries and create new jobs. The hydrogen hub is a small part of that vision, but an important one.
We’re realistic about the challenges ahead. Green hydrogen needs both supply and demand. For that reason, my appeal to Welsh Government is twofold: continue to invest in the fuel, as they already have done, but also look at the wider ecosystem needed to support its use. Government is uniquely placed to do this – for example, enabling local authorities to purchase hydrogen-powered refuse trucks, supported by existing transport grant mechanisms and borrowing powers.
Doing both – investing in supply and supporting demand – creates the conditions for success. It also opens the door to replication elsewhere in Wales, particularly in areas with industrial or transport needs that hydrogen can help meet.
We’ve already seen positive steps. An Outline Business Case has been approved, and we’re progressing towards a Full Business Case. Around £6 million is currently reserved to support the project once we reach final investment decision. I’m confident we will see further support as we move through the next stages, especially given the strength of our partnership with Hynamics and the backing we’ve received to date.
But I would also argue that this is the moment to think more broadly. Government departments need to coordinate across their remits if we’re serious about building regional hydrogen ecosystems. That means thinking not just in vertical silos – transport, energy, economy – but across them. I know there is an appetite to do this, but it will be crucial to getting projects like this off the ground and delivering on their potential.
Our ambition and priority is always to ensure that the benefits of clean energy developments are felt locally through jobs, skills, and new business opportunities. The Holyhead Hydrogen Hub is designed with that in mind. And if we get this right, it will serve not just as a single project, but as a catalyst for further investment in North Wales’ low-carbon economy.
