Red diesel replacement and hydrogen projects win funding

The government has announced winners of three government competitions: the Red Diesel Replacement Competition, the Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Competition, and the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.

With industry responsible for producing an estimated 16% of the UK's emissions at present, the funding will go to projects that clean up industrial processes and reduce business energy costs.

Catagen, one of the winning projects from the Red Diesel Replacement Competition, which will receive the programme’s largest government award, is using new net zero technology to produce green hydrogen and e-diesel for industrial vehicles in Northern Ireland.

This will further support Northern Ireland’s green economy, helping industry at home to transition away from costly fossil fuels, while laying the foundations for future export opportunities that could create new jobs and boost local growth.

The announcement comes on the day of the Northern Ireland Investment Summit, where Northern Ireland’s innovation and technological strengths are on display to more than 100 global investors.

Dr Andrew Woods CEO and Co-Founder at Catagen said: "The pathway to decarbonise the off-road mobile machinery is difficult, these vehicles tend to be larger, built for extreme conditions, have long duty cycles and high-power demand. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so we are delighted to be making this bold step with Terex and Wrightbus to develop an end-to-end decarbonised solution.

"This will showcase a Terex crusher and screener at a quarry, powered by a dual fuel hydrogen e-diesel genset, produced and fuelled by the ClimaHtech system and the Wrightbus Hydrogen bowser. Catagen’s purpose is to clean and decarbonise the air and this project brings us one step closer to our goal to reduce global emissions."

The Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator Competition supports projects to test moving from industrial fuel to hydrogen, spanning all the way from generation and storage to end use. One winner is the Bay Hydrogen Hub, run by EDF Energy Generation, which generates low-carbon hydrogen using steam from the generation of nuclear energy and will support the asphalt industry move to a cleaner fuel source.

Rachael Glaving Commercial Director at EDF said: "Nuclear power can play a vital role in decarbonising industries which rely on fossil fuels. The Bay Hydrogen Hub will do just that and at the same time help the UK reach net zero.

The Red Diesel Replacement and Industrial Hydrogen Accelerator competitions are funded through the government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio which provides funding for low carbon technologies and systems.

The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) supports the development and deployment of technologies that enable businesses with high energy use to transition to a low carbon future.