Bridgend County Borough Council’s Cabinet were presented with an update on the Hydrogen Demonstrator project and were told the plan could bring an investment of £26 million into the county borough.
The proposed project means Bridgend would have the opportunity to demonstrate its leadership in green technology advancement.
It was previously announced that Japanese renewable energy specialists Marubeni Europower had selected Bridgend County Borough as its preferred UK location for a green hydrogen demonstrator project, which could see plans such as generating clean fuel for fleet vehicles ranging from council gritters to recycling and refuse collection lorries.
The project could also provide potential benefits for other Local Authorities in South Wales, in addition to public sector partners such as the South Wales Police and Welsh Ambulance Service.
The plan could potentially bring a total of £26 million of external investment funds into the borough, with £13million coming from Marubeni and £13million from the Japanese Government’s New Energy Development Organisation (NEDO). This will help to develop a unique local energy and management system providing green low-cost energy and heat.
The Cardiff Capital Region have also in principle agreed to consider the opportunity for investment on receipt of a detailed proposal and are engaged with the project. Welsh Government, having introduced the opportunity, are also keen to see the project to fruition and are willing to support its development.
In order to move the detailed development of this project forward, Bridgend County Borough Council will be signing a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Marubeni Corporation.
This is a fantastic opportunity for Bridgend County Borough to be a real leader in the field of green technology advancement and it’s great that the project will help to bring some significant external funding to the area.
We are looking forward to working further with Marubeni and hope this plan can bring many benefits to not only Bridgend County Borough but Wales as a whole. This also reiterates our commitment to the Bridgend 2030 Net Zero Carbon strategy.
Cllr John Spanswick, Cabinet Member for Communities
