The Labour Party has won a landslide majority in the UK General Election, securing over 410 parliamentary seats of the 650 up for grabs.
It marks the end of 14 years of administration for the Conservatives, now an opposition party reduced to 121 MPs.
Labour Leader and incoming Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is poised to implement an ambitious agenda focused on growth, underpinned by a focus on renewable energy and green initiatives.
Speaking in London just minutes after the Labour majority was confirmed, a jubilant Starmer said, “We did it. You campaigned for it, you fought for it – and now it has arrived. Change begins now.”
In government, Labour has pledged to invest big in renewable energy across the UK. It has laid out a blueprint for its state-owned Great British Energy (GBE) to drive investments into wind, solar, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Speaking on the BBC early this morning, Ed Milliband, the soon to be Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero, said Labour would “hit the ground running” in setting up GBE.
Under its manifesto the party said it would dedicate £500m to support the development of the UK’s green hydrogen sector.
Despite the widespread rejection of the Conservative Party, Troy Aharonian, Head of Public Affairs at trade body Hydrogen UK, told H2 View, Labour is inheriting a “healthy” hydrogen policy framework and state of play from the Conservatives.
Read more: UK hydrogen foundations laid, next govt must fuel growth: Hydrogen UK
Outside of the political turbulence and economic pressures that defined the past five years, the 2019 national hydrogen strategy laid strong foundations, particularly in standards and business models, according to Hydrogen UK.
Brett Ryan, Hydrogen UK’s Head of Policy and Analysis, said UK projects are mature and know the rules of the game, adding “it’s now just going through the motions and getting them deployed.”
Other voices across the industry are reacting to the news of Labour’s landslide and renewed calls to see greater momentum on hydrogen and renewable energy.
The Association for Decentralised Energy’s (ADE) Chief Executive, Caroline Bragg, praised Labour’s renewable energy commitments but called for decisive action.
“Billions of pounds of investment are waiting to invest in zero carbon heat infrastructure across the UK’s cities and towns – all we need is certainty,” she said. With decisive action and ambitious targets, we can create hundreds of thousand jobs, drive economic growth and save the UK billions.”
Andrew Cunningham, CEO of GeoPura, told H2 View, there must be clear indication that funding for the Hydrogen Allocation Rounds (HAR) will be carried through as soon as possible or risk “destroying” the hydrogen industry.
“There has to be clear indication [the HARs will be] moving forward immediately, or that would destroy the industry. It’s not even tenable to even consider would happen if it was pulled at this point because huge amounts have been invested.”
It follows calls from Hydrogen UK to finalise contracts for the 11 HAR1 green hydrogen projects selected for a combined £2bn of revenue support in December – which GeoPura is among.
Read more: Hydrogen UK presses next govt to fast-track £2bn green hydrogen projects
More broadly, the GeoPura CEO called for all-out bans on polluting technologies over taxation to force markets to convert to cleaner alternatives.
“Ban the things which are doing the damage, then the market is forced to find the solutions,” he told H2 View.
Speaking on a H2 View webinar today, Robin Futcher, Managing Director of Commercial Fuel Solutions, said he hopes to see more connection between government departments dealing with hydrogen.
“With the previous administration, there was a disconnect between the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Transport (DfT).
“It would make sense if the new government can address this disconnect in order to achieve [its] ambitious, fully renewable gird by 2030,” he said.
This story will be updated as more reaction comes in.
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