The Lighter than Aire (LTA) consortium said the EU’s Clean Hydrogen Partnership funding will support the development of over 4,500 tonnes of green hydrogen production capacity, and the deployment of more than 150 hydrogen trucks.

It could span from Bradford along the Aire–Humber corridor, to build a “centralised” hydrogen supply network for logistics and construction vehicles.

HydraB’s companies, N-Gen and Hygen Energy, are building a 35MW green hydrogen project in Bradford thanks to revenue subsidies from the UK government’s first hydrogen allocation round.

Other Bamford group companies, like bus maker Wrightbus and hydrogen supplier Ryze Power, will work alongside Toyota, GeoPura, and Intelligent Energy, among others for the LTA project.

© HydraB

LTA said it would take on lessons from previous hydrogen cluster projects to overcome technological, financial, and regulatory barriers.

It comes under the Clean Hydrogen Partnership’s Hydrogen Valleys programme, which aims to support the development of hydrogen production and use in established regions.

Clean Hydrogen Partnership Executive Director, Valerie Bouillon-Deplorte, said that as the UK’s first hydrogen valley, it could establish a replicable model.

However, hydrogen mobility in the UK, in particular, has faced tough barriers due to high costs and limited refuelling infrastructure.

Last December, a UK-funded hydrogen truck corridor project was scrapped after the scheme failed to secure customer commitments by a contractual milestone.

In February, a fleet of 25 Wrightbus hydrogen double-decker buses was scrapped in Aberdeen after they had been out of operation since 2024 due to delays in repairing refuelling equipment.

More broadly, hydrogen mobility is criticised for its lower energy efficiency compared to battery electric vehicles, while proponents say the gas can help decarbonise heavy-duty transport which requires high uptime and fast refuelling.