This is Stephenson Harwood's second hydrogen quarterly insight which is aimed at providing you with legal updates relevant to the industry and bring you up to speed on some of the most exciting hydrogen developments in a number of key sectors.
It was hoped that this insight would comment on the UK Government's Hydrogen Strategy. However, the Government announced in late July 2021 that the Strategy (that was revealed in the 2020 Energy White Paper for publication in early 2021) was still not ready to be published.
This announcement has not been welcomed by anyone. Interested parties need certainty in order to continue and/or start investing in hydrogen in the UK. Given the speed of progress across the globe over the last number of months alone, the UK cannot delay any much further without it seriously impacting its goal of “deliver[ing] a world leading hydrogen market”.
A small number of hydrogen projects are nevertheless thankfully continuing to be announced across the UK. Appreciating a number of projects are quickly approaching final investment decisions after successful feasibility studies, the stakeholders are then confronted with an incoherent patchwork of regulatory and licencing regimes. Stephenson Harwood with the assistance of Gordon Nardell QC from Twenty Essex prepared a "Regulation & Licence Highway" analysis which gives a treetops view of the present system developers must navigate. This analysis can be found here.
Grab a cup of coffee and let us quickly bring you up to speed on the most talked about hydrogen developments over recent months.
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