The UK Has Committed £500 Million to Hydrogen Infrastructure. Here Is Why FRP Is the Secondary Material Specification It Needs.

The UK government has committed £500 million to hydrogen infrastructure development and £164 million to Project Union, Britain's core hydrogen network connecting producers, storage, and consumers across key industrial regions. A 10 GW low-carbon hydrogen production target by 2030 is advancing through successive allocation rounds. Hydrogen infrastructure is being built at scale for the first time. The secondary infrastructure inside and around these facilities operates in the most demanding material environment in the UK energy sector. Here is where FRP fits.

Published by Reinforce Technology  |  June 2026

The UK hydrogen sector has moved from strategy to construction in the past 18 months. Over £500 million was confirmed in the June 2025 Spending Review for the development of hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure, supporting the first regional hydrogen network to connect producers with industrial end users across the North of England and Scotland (GOV.UK, 2025). Ofgem announced £164 million for Project Union in October 2025, funding the front-end engineering design of National Gas's core hydrogen network — a 1,500-mile pipeline infrastructure repurposing existing natural gas assets and building new pipelines to create Britain's hydrogen backbone (National Gas, 2025). In July 2025, the government temporarily waived pipeline licensing requirements for 100% hydrogen pipelines to accelerate the deployment of early-stage and pilot commercial projects (Baker McKenzie, 2026).

The first production facilities under Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 are operational or in construction. HAR2 shortlisted 27 projects across England, Scotland, and Wales, with successful projects announced in early 2026. HAR3 has launched, targeting up to 1.5 GW of cumulative deployment alongside HAR4, which begins in 2028. EET Hydrogen's plant at Stanlow in Ellesmere Port began producing CCS-enabled hydrogen in 2026, with a second plant targeting up to 1,000 MW of capacity. The HyNet North West cluster, connecting hydrogen production, transport, and industrial end users across Cheshire and Merseyside, is the most advanced large-scale hydrogen infrastructure project in the UK (Norton Rose Fulbright, 2025).

Hydrogen infrastructure is not conventional industrial infrastructure. The physical and chemical properties of hydrogen — extreme flammability across a wide concentration range in air, very high diffusivity through materials, embrittlement of certain metals under sustained exposure, and the cryogenic storage requirements of liquid hydrogen — create a secondary infrastructure environment that is more demanding than almost any other application in the UK energy sector. The materials used for secondary structural systems, cable management, access platforms, and perimeter security in hydrogen production, storage, and distribution facilities must be specified with a precise understanding of what hydrogen does to conventional materials — and what FRP does not allow it to do.

The UK's first regional hydrogen transport and storage network is advancing, with £500 million of government backing and £164 million for Project Union. The secondary infrastructure inside these facilities operates in the most demanding material environment in the UK energy sector.

Why Hydrogen Infrastructure Creates Specific Secondary Material Demands

Hydrogen is not a material that forgives specification errors. Its physical and chemical properties create secondary infrastructure demands that are distinct from those of any other energy infrastructure the UK is currently building, and that require specific and informed material choices rather than the default assumptions that apply to conventional industrial or energy installations.

Hydrogen is flammable across a concentration range of 4% to 75% in air, a range substantially wider than natural gas, which is flammable between approximately 5% and 15%. In an environment where a hydrogen leak can create a flammable atmosphere across a wide range of concentrations, any secondary infrastructure that could generate a spark under impact, mechanical friction, or electrical fault becomes a potential ignition source. FRP structural profiles, grating, and cable management are non-sparking under all normal operational and accidental loading conditions, eliminating this ignition risk category from the secondary infrastructure of a hydrogen facility.

Hydrogen has a very small molecular size and high diffusivity, allowing it to permeate through materials and escape from enclosures more readily than heavier gases. This property, combined with hydrogen's flammability at low concentrations, makes the ventilation and monitoring of enclosed spaces within hydrogen facilities a critical safety consideration. Non-conductive secondary infrastructure in monitoring and control cable management eliminates the earthing and bonding programme that steel cable management requires in the electrically sensitive environment of a hydrogen facility, where static discharge and earth fault currents are additional ignition risks alongside the flammability of the process gas itself (IntechOpen, 2022).

Hydrogen embrittlement is the mechanism by which high-pressure hydrogen exposure causes certain metals, particularly high-strength steels, to become brittle and susceptible to cracking under stress. While this is primarily a concern for primary pressure-containing equipment, the secondary structural framework and access infrastructure in proximity to high-pressure hydrogen systems should be specified in materials that do not present hydrogen embrittlement risk under accidental exposure. FRP has no metallic microstructure and is not susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement, eliminating a failure mode from the secondary infrastructure envelope of a hydrogen production or storage facility that steel alternatives must be evaluated against.

Where FRP Is Specified in Hydrogen Infrastructure

1. Access Grating and Walkways Around Electrolyser and Production Equipment

Green hydrogen production through electrolysis takes place in electrolyser stacks that operate with high-voltage DC power supplies and produce hydrogen gas as the product stream. The access infrastructure around electrolyser equipment — grating, walkways, and stair systems that allow operators and maintenance personnel to work safely around the production equipment — operates in an environment combining high-voltage DC electrical systems with flammable hydrogen gas in the immediate vicinity.

FRP moulded grating provides non-sparking, non-conductive access flooring around electrolyser equipment. Non-conductive grating eliminates the earthing and bonding requirements that metal grating demands in proximity to the high-voltage DC power supply of the electrolyser, and non-sparking behaviour under impact or mechanical friction eliminates a potential ignition source in a hydrogen atmosphere. Anti-slip surface performance integral to the moulded panel maintains consistent traction in the humid operating environment of water electrolysis without the surface treatment maintenance that metal grating alternatives require (IntechOpen, 2022).

2. Cable Management for DC Power and Process Control

Electrolyser-based hydrogen production facilities are electrically intensive. The DC power supply to the electrolyser stacks, the control and monitoring systems for process management, and the safety instrumentation systems that detect hydrogen gas concentrations all require cable management infrastructure routed across the production facility. That cable management operates in a hydrogen atmosphere where non-conductivity and non-sparking behaviour are both relevant to the safe management of ignition risks.

FRP cable trays for DC power and process control cable management in hydrogen facilities provide non-conductive routing that eliminates earthing and bonding requirements around the high-voltage DC electrolyser power supply, resist the humid chemical environment of a water electrolysis facility without corrosion, and provide non-sparking cable containment in a process atmosphere where spark generation from metallic cable management under fault conditions is a specific and documented ignition risk. As hydrogen production facilities scale from the pilot and early commercial stage of the current allocation rounds to the utility-scale installations the 10 GW target requires, the volume of cable management infrastructure specified inside each facility increases substantially and the specification case for FRP strengthens with it.

3. Structural Profiles for Secondary Framing

The secondary structural framing of a hydrogen production or storage facility — equipment supports, cable management supports, access platform primary framing, and the secondary structural elements connecting the process infrastructure — operates in the same hydrogen-atmosphere environment as the grating and cable management. FRP pultruded structural profiles provide non-sparking, non-conductive, corrosion-resistant structural sections for these secondary applications, without the hydrogen embrittlement risk that high-strength steel structural sections must be evaluated against in high-pressure hydrogen environments.

The lightweight advantage of FRP structural profiles — approximately 75% lighter than equivalent steel sections — is particularly relevant in hydrogen storage and distribution facilities where the primary pressure-containing equipment is already structurally demanding and where reducing secondary structural loading allows more efficient primary structure design (IntechOpen, 2022).

4. Perimeter Fencing for Hydrogen Facilities

Hydrogen production and storage facilities are classified as major hazard sites under the Control of Major Accident Hazards regulations, requiring robust perimeter security that prevents unauthorised access and vehicle incursion into the safety exclusion zones around high-pressure hydrogen storage and high-voltage electrolyser equipment. FRP mesh perimeter fencing provides non-conductive, non-sparking boundary infrastructure — relevant in the electrical and process environment of a hydrogen facility — with no scrap metal value, removing the theft-motivated targeting that can affect steel fencing at large industrial sites. Radar and signal transparent, FRP fencing does not interfere with the gas detection, CCTV, and perimeter monitoring systems that major hazard site security requires.

FRP grating, cable trays, structural profiles, and perimeter fencing in hydrogen production facilities are non-sparking, non-conductive, and corrosion-immune — the combination of properties that the flammable, electrically sensitive, and hydrogen-embrittlement environment of these facilities specifically requires.

The Corrosion Dimension in Hydrogen Facilities

Hydrogen production facilities, particularly those using water electrolysis, operate with persistent humidity from the electrolysis process itself, combined with the chemical exposure of the electrolyte systems used in alkaline and PEM electrolyser technologies. Alkaline electrolysers use potassium hydroxide solutions as the electrolyte, creating a strongly alkaline environment in the immediate vicinity of the electrolyser stacks that attacks galvanised steel coatings at a rate substantially faster than standard outdoor atmospheric exposure. PEM electrolysers use acidic membrane systems, with the process environment generating acidic conditions around the membrane assemblies.

FRP in vinyl ester resin provides broad-spectrum resistance to the alkaline electrolyte environment of alkaline electrolysers and the acidic process conditions of PEM electrolyser periphery infrastructure. There is no corrosion mechanism — no zinc coating to deplete in the alkaline atmosphere, no iron oxide to form in the humid process environment, and no structural section loss to accumulate across the operational life of the facility. The secondary infrastructure inside a hydrogen production facility specified in vinyl ester FRP will be in the same structural condition at year twenty-five as at commissioning, regardless of what the electrolyser electrolyte atmosphere has done to any metal alternative in the same period.

The Scale of the Opportunity

The UK hydrogen sector is at the beginning of a construction programme that, if the 10 GW production target is achieved by 2030, will require the installation of hundreds of electrolyser facilities, storage sites, and distribution infrastructure across the country's industrial clusters. Project Union's 1,500-mile pipeline network, connecting these facilities to industrial end users in the North of England, Scotland, and Wales, will require the same cable management, access infrastructure, and perimeter security at every above-ground installation along its route as the production facilities it connects.

Each of those installations is a 25 to 30-year asset operating in the specific secondary material environment that hydrogen's properties create. Every specification decision made on the current pipeline of facilities, from the HyNet cluster at Stanlow to the HAR2 projects progressing through to final investment decision, will set a precedent for the standard specification of secondary infrastructure across the sector's development. The case for FRP as that standard specification — non-sparking, non-conductive, non-embrittling, corrosion-immune in electrolyte atmospheres, and maintenance-free across the asset's design life — is the case that the physical properties of hydrogen and the operational requirements of these facilities make for themselves.

The UK hydrogen infrastructure programme is real, funded, and advancing. The secondary infrastructure being specified on current facilities will define the sector's standard for a generation of assets. FRP's properties are precisely aligned with what hydrogen infrastructure demands, and the specification decisions made now will determine whether the sector builds that standard correctly from the outset or revisits it after the first corroding and sparking steel installations have demonstrated why it matters.

Reinforce Technology FRP Products for Hydrogen Infrastructure

Reinforce Technology supplies FRP cable trays, grating, structural profiles, and perimeter fencing for hydrogen production, storage, and distribution infrastructure across the UK. Available in vinyl ester and epoxy resin systems, with fire-retardant formulations available for applications requiring documented fire performance alongside non-sparking behaviour. All products are non-conductive and non-sparking, providing the combination of properties that hydrogen facility secondary infrastructure specifically requires.

We work with hydrogen facility developers, EPC contractors, process engineers, and procurement teams across the UK's growing hydrogen infrastructure pipeline. Contact us to discuss your project and the correct FRP specification for your hydrogen application.

Final confirmation of suitability for any specific hydrogen infrastructure application, including ATEX classification, resin system selection, and fire performance requirements, remains the responsibility of the appointed project engineer and safety case holder. Reinforce Technology provides technical guidance and material recommendations based on information supplied to us, but specification and safety sign-off should always sit with the qualified professionals responsible for the engineering and process safety of the installation.

References

Baker McKenzie (2026) UK Hydrogen Developments — Global Hydrogen Policy Tracker. Available at: https://resourcehub.bakermckenzie.com/en/resources/hydrogen-heat-map/emea/united-kingdom/topics/hydrogen-developments [Accessed: June 2026]. [UK temporarily waived hydrogen pipeline licensing requirements July 2025; HAR3 and HAR4 targeting 1.5 GW cumulative deployment].

GOV.UK (2025) Hydrogen Update to the Market: July 2025. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6880b2139fab8e2e86160efe/hydrogen-update-to-the-market-2025.pdf [Accessed: June 2026]. [£500m confirmed in June 2025 Spending Review for hydrogen infrastructure; first regional hydrogen transport and storage network operational ambition 2031].

IntechOpen (2022) 'Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) in Civil Engineering', in IntechOpen Engineering Series. Available at: https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/84203 [Accessed: June 2026]. [Non-conductive and non-sparking properties; 75% lighter than steel; corrosion immunity].

NACE International (2016) International Measures of Prevention, Application and Economics of Corrosion Technology (IMPACT). Houston, TX: NACE International. Available at: http://impact.nace.org/economic-impact.aspx [Accessed: June 2026].

National Gas (2025) Britain's Core Hydrogen Network Takes Major Step Forward With £164 Million Investment. Available at: https://www.nationalgas.com/media/news/britains-core-hydrogen-network-takes-major-step-forward-ps164-million-investment [Accessed: June 2026]. [£164m Ofgem funding for Project Union; 1,500-mile core hydrogen network; 3,100 jobs at peak construction; £300m annual GVA].

Norton Rose Fulbright (2025) UK Hydrogen Guide 2025. Available at: https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com [Accessed: June 2026]. [EET Hydrogen at Stanlow began production 2026; HPP1 350MW and HPP2 up to 1,000MW CCS-enabled hydrogen; HyNet North West cluster].

Slaughter and May (2026) UK Energy and Infrastructure 2026. Available at: https://www.slaughterandmay.com/horizon-scanning/2026/energy-transition/uk-energy-and-infrastructure/ [Accessed: June 2026]. [Ofgem £164m Project Union funding October 2025; first operational hydrogen network ambition 2031; HAR2 27 projects shortlisted].