BREAKFAST HUB

Bristol Breakfast Event Highlights

After the successful HIL 100 Breakfast Hub Bristol event, Hydrogen Industry Leaders highlights the main takeaways from the panel discussion.

The panel discussion featured Richard Bonner - Chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, David Eccles – Hydrogen South West Lead, and Debby Skellern – Hydrogen Lead at the Western Gateway.

With its international connections, a rich aviation sector, and cutting-edge research facilities, the South West region of the UK has the talent, resources and connections needed to make it the perfect spot for hydrogen investment.

The UK hydrogen economy could grow from Bristol

Richard addressed the audience and explained that the South West is uniquely positioned to create a link between a number of industrial clusters and there are two key things that the industry needs to focus on.

He said: “We have got great assets, and we need to build from those small acorns to really accelerate those into industrial scale ideas. We need the right policy framework in place and work out where we need to shape the local or national policies to help us. Then the second huge job that needs to be done will be to create investible propositions to attract the private sector finance, to help to accelerate.”

David agreed that accelerating the hydrogen economy comes down to the right policy framework: “Once we have a firm policy framework within which projects can be designed and delivered, then that will give the confidence to the market to start to do it.”

We won’t solve all of these issues in the region, we need to work out where the best clusters are, both nationally and internationally, and we need to be focussing on collaborating.”

Richard Bonner

Green skills transfer essential in Bristol

The growth of the hydrogen economy presents a significant economic and environmental opportunity on an international scale, but it also creates considerable labour market challenges. To see this growth, it is important that the industry focuses on the fast-tracking of the upskilling and reskilling of students and members of the workforce.