Unlocking Hydrogen Growth UK 2026 | 7 May 2026 - CMS, London

Early bird ends 27 March
Registration and refreshments
08:45  to  09:30
Chair’s welcome and opening remarks
09:30  to  09:40
Speaker:
Dr Emma Guthrie. CEO. Hydrogen Energy Association.
Part 1: Building the UK hydrogen market – progressing the hydrogen strategy and enhancing certainty for the entire supply chain
09:40  to  10:50
What role does hydrogen play in a net-zero economy? The latest updates on the Hydrogen Strategy and next steps for industry growth
09:40  to  10:05
  • Government’s direction for scaling up production – what does the new Hydrogen Strategy mean for driving hydrogen deployment?
  • Insight on future allocation rounds – key delivery mechanisms to progress HAR3 and HAR4 by 2028
  • What will the new Hydrogen Transport and Storage Business Models look like?
Panel Discussion: Enabling major hydrogen projects to get off the ground – creating resilient market conditions that reduce development risks while increasing confidence
10:05  to  10:50
  • Coordinating hydrogen production, transport infrastructure, and demand to reduce uncertainty for both developers and offtakers  
  • What more can be done to give flexibility to potential hydrogen customers?
  • Increasing project pipeline visibility to improve investor confidence and supply chain planning
  • Securing affordable green hydrogen – lowering the costs across the entire value chain to ensure market competitiveness
Speakers:
Marta Csibra. Head of Strategy & Business Development. EET Hydrogen.
Speaker from. Santander.
Ian Livingston. Head of Hydrogen & Ammonia UK. Equinor.
Morning refreshments and networking
10:50  to  11:20
Part 2: Taking hydrogen projects from concept to reality – achieving consent, applying lessons learned and moving towards construction
11:20  to  12:55
Accelerating the consenting process for hydrogen infrastructure – avoiding planning delays to bring development forward
11:20  to  11:45
  • Selecting the most suitable route for scheme to secure faster consent – considering project’s size and capacity
  • What planning challenges are unique to hydrogen schemes and how can these be addressed?
  • Effectively navigating wider planning policy changes that might have impacts on hydrogen applications
Speaker:
Robert Garden. Partner. CMS.
Panel Discussion: Crucial insight from first movers on delivering groundbreaking projects – how are these progressing and lessons learned so far
11:45  to  12:30
  • What schemes from HAR1 and HAR2 are advancing towards construction?
  • Identifying practical approaches to overcoming water scarcity and lack of grid capacity
  • What are the main barriers to final investment decision for new hydrogen projects?
  • Key learnings to date – creating a blueprint for future infrastructure delivery
Speakers:
Nick Johnson. Director and Founder. Four Zeros Energy.
Matt Barney. Chief Hydrogen Business Officer. GeoPura.
Pete Fear. Origination & Partnerships. Hynamics.
Ensuring hydrogen projects are shovel-ready – how to advance towards successful construction
12:30  to  12:55
  • What needs to be in place to move from consent to construction?
  • Aligning the planning and construction process to ensure timely delivery - considering utility and grid connection works
  • Training and mobilising the skilled workforce needed for successful project execution
Speaker:
Tracy Scott. Development Director - Green Hydrogen. RES.
Networking Lunch
12:55  to  13:55
Part 3: Maximising hydrogen uptake by identifying key end-use cases and strategically co-locating demand with supply
13:55  to  15:05
Panel Discussion: Unlocking hydrogen’s potential – what are the end-use applications and how can these be leveraged to drive demand across the UK?
13:55  to  14:40
  • Using hydrogen to decarbonise hard-to-abate operations – what industries are adopting hydrogen to reduce emissions?
  • What is the potential of hydrogen derivates as alternative fuels – considering the role of ammonia and methanol
  • Demonstrating current demand across different sectors to establish the business case for hydrogen production
  • Next steps for driving future demand – what is needed to enable hydrogen consumption to grow?
Speakers:
Duncan McCourt. CEO. Sustainable Aviation.
Charles Stevenson. Director. JCB.
Kelly de Azevedo Dent. Director of Development. SSE Thermal.
Hydrogen cluster’s perspective: connecting users and supply to create reliable demand while attracting regional investment
14:40  to  15:05
  • Aligning production and uptake – facilitating co-location of industrial users with hydrogen deployment sites
  • Maximising shared infrastructure to reduce costs and improve efficiency – including pipelines and storage within the cluster
  • Understanding the economic impact of hydrogen clusters – catalysing investment and creating new employment opportunities
Speaker:
Adam Baddeley. Head of Project Development. Progressive Energy.
Afternoon refreshments and networking
15:05  to  15:35
Part 4: Scaling up hydrogen production across the UK through carbon capture deployment and large-scale pipelines
15:35  to  16:25
Delivering carbon capture schemes to facilitate hydrogen production and industrial decarbonisation – challenges and new opportunities
15:35  to  16:00
  • What issues emerged during the development and FID process? – practical solutions to overcome these
  • Lessons learned to date and how can these be applied to future projects
  • What additional infrastructure can be integrated into CCS schemes to enhance efficiency?
The progress with developing an extensive pipeline network to scale up hydrogen capacity – what are the most viable options?
16:00  to  16:25
  • Plans and timelines for repurposing existing transmission assets to transport hydrogen
  • Next steps for building new pipelines and blending hydrogen into the gas grid
  • What will future hydrogen distribution networks look like?
Speaker:
Dr Danielle Stewart. Project Director - Project Union. National Gas.
Chair’s closing remarks
16:25  to  16:35
Close of conference and networking drinks
16:35  to  17:00

*All sessions include time for Q & A* 

 

Want to be involved or sign up for updates? 

Fill in your details to find out more about the Unlocking Hydrogen Growth UK 2026 - whether it's sponsoring, speaking or attending.

Thank you for getting in contact. We will be in contact with more information shortly. If you have any questions in the mean time please call 0207 067 1597.


Enquire now