18 Apr. 2023: Kimberly-Clark (K-C) has said three of its UK-based green hydrogen projects it is developing with energy partners have won places on the UK government’s Hydrogen Business Model Strategy (HBMS) shortlist.

Once up and running, the scheme will fund a first-round allocation of 250MW of electrolytic hydrogen projects across England, Scotland and Wales.

Contracts are expected to be awarded by the end of the year, with first projects aiming to be operational in 2025.

The three hydrogen projects selected by The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) include K-C’s green hydrogen hub in Barrow-in-Furness, developed in partnership with Carlton Power, which will power K-C’s Cumbria manufacturing facility.

The other two projects are being developed in partnership with HYRO, a joint venture between Octopus Energy Generation and renewable energy company RES, and will see green hydrogen supplied to K-C’s manufacturing facilities in Flint, North Wales, and Northfleet in Kent.

In total, the three schemes are expected to provide a total of 50MW of green hydrogen.

The shortlisting of all three green hydrogen projects submitted by K-C’s partners coincides with the switch-on this week of a new purpose-built onshore wind farm expected to generate around 80% of K-C’s UK electrical power needs.

Located in Cumberhead in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, the 12-turbine wind farm has taken just 18 months to build.

It is the first wind farm to supply K-C outside of North America.

Dan Howell, Kimberly-Clark’s UK and Ireland MD said: “These developments represent a significant steppingstone towards our big ambition to move solely to renewable energy to manufacture Andrex, Kleenex, Huggies, WypAll and Scott in the UK by 2030.

“We can only reach our decarbonisation goals via innovative partnerships and cutting-edge technology.

“These green hydrogen schemes and our spectacular new wind farm in Cumberhead are perfect examples of what our consumers, retail partners, stakeholders and employees expect us to do.

“A lot of hard work has gone into developing the green hydrogen projects and it’s fantastic to see the UK government selecting them for the funding shortlist.”

K-C has said it plans to reduce its natural gas consumption in the UK by 61% when the three projects are operational at the end of 2025, subject to final government contract.

DESNZ expects projects on the HBMS shortlist to generate up to 250MW – with the three schemes submitted by Kimberly-Clark’s partners accounting for just over 20% of that total.
By Helen Morris, Tissue World Magazine