Wood has agreed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HYGEN Energy to accelerate the production of green hydrogen for decarbonising transportation in the United Kingdom.

Through the MoU, Wood and HYGEN Energy will develop solutions for future hydrogen production plants across the UK, beginning with the conceptual design for the facility at Herne Bay, Kent.

The Herne Bay facility will generate green hydrogen from existing offshore wind farms to be used in zero-emission mobility transport solutions in the Southeast of England, the consulting and engineering company said.

It is planned to commence production by the middle of 2023 and, on final completion, the plant will have a production capacity of between eight and nine tonnes of green hydrogen per day.

”At Wood, we are committed to working with our clients to tackle global energy challenges and we know that producing hydrogen – economically and at pace – will be critical as we transition to a more integrated, lower carbon energy mix,” Craig Shanaghey, Wood’s President, Operations across Europe, Middle East and Africa said.

”With our hydrogen project track record and expertise across the full lifecycle, we are delighted to be working with HYGEN Energy and look forward to developing and delivering the impactful solutions which will play a key role in contributing to the UK government’s hydrogen strategy and ambitious net-zero carbon emissions targets.”

The MoU is said to mark a tangible step towards delivering the UK Government’s strategy to achieve 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030.

Jo Bamford, founder and Executive Chairman of HYGEN Energy, said the MOU with Wood marked a positive step forward for the UK’s hydrogen sector: ‘‘At HYGEN Energy, we have ambitious plans to build a network of green hydrogen production plants across the UK to provide zero-emission fuel for a number of uses, create strong jobs, and to help position the UK as a world-leader in the hydrogen sector. With partners on board such as Wood, we’re confident that we will realise those ambitions.”