A total of 28 projects from four nations in the UK have received the funding and is expected to propel the hydrogen industry forwards and take a leading role in a low-carbon future.

Included in the winnings is ITM Power based in Yorkshire, has been awarded more than £9.2m ($11.40m) to build a next generation 5MW electrolyser stack, an industrial tool which separates hydrogen from oxygen in a vat of water using electricity.

Building on their findings from the first Hydrogen Supply programme, ITM are seeking to bring the lowest-cost green hydrogen solution to the market.

As well as this, Cadent Gas Limited in the West Midlands, will receive £296,174 for feasibility work focusing on how to purify hydrogen that has been through the gas grid to make it suitable for use in vehicles like lorries.

The National Nuclear Laboratory in Cumbria will receive £242,619 to review and model processes that can use the heat from nuclear reactors to produce hydrogen.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK’s Business and Energy Secretary, said, “The British Energy Security Strategy made clear that we are backing hydrogen not just as a viable source of clean, affordable homegrown energy but as an emerging industry of the future in which the UK can lead the world.

“This funding will accelerate the development of this exciting new industry, helping position us as a hydrogen superpower on the global stage.”