The UK government has unveiled the second round of funding for the Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport Hub.

£8 million will be provided to support hydrogen-powered transport in the North East, grow the economy and create jobs. The funding follows the announcement of two winning projects in the second phase of investment for the hub.

One project is led by ULEMCo and receives a share of the £8 million funding to develop hydrogen powered airport ground-based support vehicles, such as tow trucks for airplanes and sweepers to clean runways. This will be based at Teesside International Airport, helping Teesside International Airport reach its goal of being net zero by 2030.

Another of the winning projects, led by Element 2, aims to create new hydrogen refuelling stations, helping to provide the infrastructure needed to scale-up the use of hydrogen as a fuel. This funding will create four new publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations, increasing by 50% the total number of refuelling stations in the UK. These will be used to fuel a range of vehicles, from airside vehicles to HGVs, including supermarket delivery trucks.

UK Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Hydrogen technology has great potential to decarbonise transport and help grow the economy. Today’s winners illustrate the expertise the Tees Valley has as a pioneer in developing hydrogen tech. This investment will provide a further boost to the economy, creating skilled jobs and apprenticeships across the North East.”

“This funding brings the UK closer to decarbonising some of the heavier and more complex vehicles, such as airside operations, which will be essential in reaching net zero. Already used in buses across the country, hydrogen fuel cells create no harmful exhaust emissions. Greater use of hydrogen could help grow the UK economy with a transport system that is resilient to global energy prices, environmentally friendly and could see the creation of thousands of skilled jobs.”

Phil Forster, managing director of Teesside International Airport, added: “We’re working hard to make Teesside an airport people can be proud of. This hydrogen refuelling station does just that, by proving this new technology is safe and reliable, and can be used across all sorts of applications. This makes it clear Teesside is helping to pioneer both the aviation industry and the clean energy sector.”