U.K.’s Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) has announced £96 million ($128.5 million) in new funding to support the next phase of the East Coast Hydrogen pipeline network across the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, and East Midlands.

Ofgem announced on Friday, June 20, 2025, that the funding will support engineering, planning, and public consultation on proposals for Britain’s most ambitious hydrogen infrastructure programs to bolster the country’s transition to low and zero-emission energy. 

The East Coast Hydrogen project is a partnership between the country’s three major gas companies: National Gas, Northern Gas Networks, and Cadent. It focuses on connecting industrial hydrogen consumers to primary hydrogen production and storage within the next 15 years.

Starting with the Teesside and Humber region, the network will consist of repurposed natural gas pipelines and newly constructed pipelines to help East Coast industries transition from national gas to green hydrogen. 

“This funding marks a crucial step in building the infrastructure needed to unlock the UK’s hydrogen economy at scale,” said Jon Butterworth, Chief Executive Officer at National Gas. He emphasized that the company was committed to enabling the UK’s transition to a low-carbon energy system that is secure, cost-effective, and future-ready. 

“Project Union, our plan to create a 1,500-mile core hydrogen network across Great Britain, will start on the East Coast, and this funding will support that ambition,” he added.

Steve Fraser, Chief Executive Officer at Cadent, also reiterated the significance of the funding in moving the project forward, adding that it marks a major milestone “not just in terms of this specific project, but for the UK’s entire energy transition.”

Echoing the support for the project, Mark Horsley, Chief Executive at Northern Gas Networks, said the project presents a clear path for driving job creation, growth in the regional economies, and decarbonization efforts to help industries meet net-zero targets. 

“This funding is essential to determining the technical work needed to build hydrogen infrastructure, in order to understand how a hydrogen network can be operational in time to meet government net-zero plans,” Horsley added. 

As the first phase of the UK’s proposed core hydrogen network, the East Coast Hydrogen is expected to be delivered later this decade, with gas flows expected to begin in the early 2030s. 

The latest funding follows a series of recent government financial support for the green hydrogen economy, including the £500 million investment in the Spending Review.