Loop Energy, one of Greater Vancouver’s premier hydrogen fuel cell companies, has made the leap across the pond. The company announced today that it will be establishing a foothold in the U.K. market by opening a new facility in the country, conveniently located next to a growing group of manufacturers helping decarbonize road transport. 

The announcement comes just a month after Loop Energy signed a multi-year fuel cell supply agreement with U.K.-based Tevva, which includes delivery commitments in excess of USD $12 million through 2023.

Why Blighty?: The U.K. is a market primed and ready for hydrogen technology. Its government has announced that diesel and gas vehicles will start to be banned from 2030 – only eight years’ time – and is looking to invest heavily in clean fuels to replace them. That switch is motivated by the U.K.’s own data, which suggests that gas and diesel heavy-goods vehicles made up 18 percent of all road emissions in 2019. Loop Energy is a good fit for the country’s goals: its product targets the commercial vehicle sector, including buses and long-haul trucks.

Why it matters: Greater Vancouver has long been known by the (admittedly, not very catchy) moniker of “Silicon Valley for fuel cell technology”. It’s stuck for a reason. Hydrogen has been a speciality of the region for decades, starting with cleantech giant Ballard Power Systems – one of the pioneers in the hydrogen-fuel world – and later HTEC, Hydra Energy, and more. The sector is still growing. Just weeks ago, Cellcentric – a collaboration between Daimler and Volvo – opened a new multimillion-dollar manufacturing and research facility in Burnaby. All that to say: hydrogen technology is thriving in Greater Vancouver, and expansions by local companies like Loop Energy into the U.K. will offer a launchpad to bring made-in-Canada tech to Europe and beyond.

What people are saying: “We were pleased to see the U.K. government’s recent commitment to the hydrogen sector, with the business secretary’s pledge to unlock the £9 billion [CAD $14 billion] investment needed to make hydrogen a cornerstone of the U.K.’s greener future,” said Loop Energy president and CEO, Ben Nyland, in a statement. “We expect to service a truck and bus market size upwards of USD $15 billion over the next two-to-three years, and our U.K. facility is established as the localized support center for these vehicles. We also believe that the U.K.’s strong pool of manufacturing and design talent will help take Loop to the next level in its growth story.”

“Hydrogen is likely to be fundamental to cutting emissions across some of our largest forms of commercial transport – from buses to heavy goods vehicles,” said U.K. business minister Lord Callanan. “As the world shifts to cleaner transport, it is critical we embed a U.K. supply chain that can capture the economic opportunities of hydrogen technology.”