JCB agrees biggest green hydrogen deal with Australian firm
An Australian company will become Britain’s biggest supplier of “green” hydrogen in a deal struck with JCB, the construction equipment maker.
The deal, which is worth billions of pounds, means JCB will take 10 per cent of the green hydrogen made by the firm Fortescue Future Industries (FFI).
FFI said the deal was a “first-of-a-kind partnership” that would see it become the UK’s largest supplier of the clean fuel from early next year.
Countries like Australia are ahead of the curve with hydrogen production, which is likely to give them a competitive advantage to other countries as big industry shifts to more green solutions.
Lord Anthony Bamford, founder and chairman of JCB, said the deal would help to make green hydrogen a viable solution, and is defined as hydrogen produced using renewable energy. He told the BBC, it was “the right thing to do” in light of the climate crisis.
Hydrogen does not produce carbon emissions when it is burned, so it is a likely replacement for fossil fuels in heavy industries. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said low carbon hydrogen has a critical role to play in the UK’s transition to net zero.