COP26 hydrogen tour visits Johnson Matthey in Stockton to learn how the North East is driving hydrogen

Business leaders met at Johnson Matthey in Stockton on Monday 25 October to drive the conversation around hydrogen marking the North East ‘stop’ on the Decarbonised Gas Alliance’s (DGA) Hydrogen Roadshow.

Representatives from bp, energy infrastructure firm Kellas Midstream, Costain and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Chris Rowell, the Clean Growth Manager from Tees Valley, met at Johnson Matthey’s site in Stockton for the event as the firm hosted the Decarbonised Gas Alliance as it tours the UK.

During the event, Johnson Matthey (JM) highlighted its Low Carbon Hydrogen process, which allows hydrogen to be produced at scale, with more than 95% of the produced CO2 captured at a much lower cost compared to conventional technology. The captured CO2 can then be transported for storage or use.

Two major hydrogen projects are being planned for the region: bp’s H2Teesside and Kellas Midstream’s H2NorthEast. Both schemes aim to produce up to 1GW of ‘blue’ hydrogen by 2030, helping to create thousands of jobs in the region.

Johnson Matthey’s process was developed by scientists and engineers in the area, including those working as part of its Trainee Scientist scheme. This degree apprenticeship scheme has been running in the region for the past 25 years, with those studying chemistry while working full-time in the firm’s research and development areas.

One scientist working at Johnson Matthey who first started at JM as a Trainee Scientist is Jennifer Williams. She said:

“Since starting as a trainee scientist at JM, my career has gone from strength to strength. The skills and training I learnt through the scheme have helped me in all aspects of my career. I found on the job training was much more valuable than being taught in a classroom. I now manage JM’s Catalyst Technologies portfolio and new product developments including resourcing, strategy and stakeholder management. I also now support the management of the trainee scheme with Adel Neale. Supporting the development of new talent coming into JM is probably my favourite part of my job. I love being able to use my experience to help others in their career journey, at the same time as having a positive impact on the energy transition and decarbonisation.”

Dr Phil Ingram, Senior Business Development Manager, Low Carbon Hydrogen at Johnson Matthey, said:

“Johnson Matthey is delighted to welcome the Decarbonised Gas Alliance roadshow to our sites in Teesside. This is where our scientists and engineers created and continue to develop our award-winning low carbon hydrogen technology, which reduces CO2 emissions by over 95%. Manufacturing blue hydrogen at scale is a critical early step in decarbonisation, enabling us all to achieve net zero emissions targets and limit global temperature rises.”