The companies revealed today (November 29) that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) looks to provide a reliable supply of hydrogen for industry and transport to kickstart the development of the UK hydrogen economy.

According to Ryze and Centrica, the two will explore solutions for converting some of the British Gas vehicle fleet to hydrogen, including refuelling infrastructure, locations, and van technology.

Furthering this, as a provider of combined heat and power systems, Centrica Business Solutions will work with Ryze to offer hydrogen as an alternative fuel for customers wishing to decarbonise on-site generation.

“Low-carbon hydrogen will play a major role in decarbonising our energy systems,” said William Mezzullo, Head of Hydrogen at Centrica. “It enables the increased use of renewable and low carbon electricity by offering the potential for storage in quantities that provide long term resilience and another choice for decarbonising hard to electrify sectors.”

Mezzullo added, “We should be bold in our thinking, the UK should aim to be a net exporter of hydrogen, providing high quality green jobs, additional revenues for the UK treasury and a lower cost of transitioning to Net Zero for homeowners and businesses.”

H2 View understands the partners will also explore how the UK can work with international hydrogen production facilities to move low-cost renewable power converted to hydrogen and its derivatives to areas of high demand.

Last November (2021), Ryze Hydrogen and JCB inked a multi-billion-pound deal with Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) to see the two companies purchase 10% of FFI’s green hydrogen, most of which was set to be produced outside of the UK.

Read more: Fortescue, JCB, Ryze Hydrogen ink multi-billion-pound hydrogen deal for the UK

Commenting on the new agreement, Jo Bamford, Executive Chairman of Ryze, said, “Ryze is at the forefront of green hydrogen production and supply, and we are incredibly excited to share our vision for growth with an energy giant such as Centrica.

“The projects we have already discussed will be game-changing for the green hydrogen economy and will underline why hydrogen is such an important resource for the UK and the rest of the world in the fight against climate change.”

In October (2022), Centrica announced as part of a trial headed up by HiiROC, it was planning to inject hydrogen into its existing gas peaking plant in Lincolnshire, UK.

Read more: Centrica and HiiROC to inject hydrogen at gas-fired power station in UK

With hopes of getting the project underway in the third quarter of 2023, hydrogen is expected to initially make up no more than 3% of the gas mix, while plans to incrementally increase the blend could see it reach 20%.