The UK is forecast to exceed its 2030 target for blue hydrogen projects.

Blue hydrogen is produced mainly from natural gas, following specific manufacturing processes.

That’s according to a new report by energy group Westwood which reveals that blue hydrogen projects account for nearly 13GW capacity of total announced hydrogen capacity in the UK.

Analysts say that blue hydrogen projects account for more 16GW of total announced hydrogen capacity in the UK and Norway, equivalent to approximately 90% of the hydrogen projects total for the same region.

The report also predicts that although the number of green hydrogen projects is four times higher than blue, hydrogen capacity will largely be driven by the latter.

Experts suggest blue hydrogen will be a “key catalyst” in the development of hydrogen and carbon capture and storage clusters.

David Linden, Head of Energy Transition at Westwood says: “Although considerable offshore wind projects are developing in Northwest Europe, hydrogen projects are emerging at an unrivalled pace.

“The scale of blue hydrogen developments makes them a necessity to ensure 2030 regional targets are met – in fact, the current pipeline of announced capacity for UK projects would exceed targets if all achieved their planned start-up dates.”