Debate contribution: Hydrogen Innovation Strategy

Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on 25 March 2025.

MLA

Mr Timothy Gaston

Party at the time

Traditional Unionist Voice

Date

25 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Hydrogen Innovation Strategy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4866429

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I am very aware of where the future growth opportunities are for the Northern Ireland economy. In particular, Ballymena should be designated as the hydrogen hub for Northern Ireland. I say that for two reasons. First, long before hydrogen was identified as the answer to fuelling large vehicles, Wrightbus, in Ballymena, had a team of engineers developing a prototype hydrogen bus. Wrightbus has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to hydrogen technology. The company is known as a global leader in the development of the next generation of clean tech buses in design and manufacture. Since Jo Bamford acquired the company a number of years ago, it has continued to build on the foundations laid by the late Sir William Wright CBE. Mr Bamford has brought further expertise in hydrogen to the business, leaving it well positioned to continue to lead the design and development of hydrogen vehicles on a global scale. Wrightbus employs 2,000 people directly on its Galgorm site, with another 1,500 employed locally throughout its supply chain. The business has plans to continue to scale up its workforce as demand for its buses increases. The second reason that Ballymena should be made a hydrogen hub is because of the work that the local council has already undertaken. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has prioritised supporting the development of the hydrogen economy as part of its economic growth strategy. Through teaming up with local industry and academia, it has developed a number of hydrogen economy initiatives that support the sector's development. One such initiative is the hydrogen training academy. Delivered through partnering with further and higher education institutions, including Queen's University Belfast, Belfast Metropolitan College and the Northern Regional College, the training academy will offer courses from level 2 to level 7 across a range of hydrogen subject areas that focus on developing the skills that are required to maximise opportunities in the hydrogen and clean technology sectors. Additionally, the council has been working on developing an innovation and clean tech centre called i4C as part of the Belfast region city deal. The integrated industrial inspiration and innovation campus will be a £24 million green energy hub that will include an innovation lab, allowing for an engineering team to be based there. It will create a well-equipped workshop that focuses on developing products, services, training and solutions for the clean tech sector across Northern Ireland, particularly the emerging hydrogen economy. In Ballymena, we have already established a partnership-working approach between industry and local government through the manufacturing task force.

Yes. Go ahead.

I thank the Member for her intervention. When we debated the motion yesterday, I explained why I was sceptical. Today, I recognise where the future economic opportunities lie for Northern Ireland, and I will certainly —.

I could add that as a third reason, no problem. I am happy to champion my constituency and, indeed, will lobby hard to bring jobs to North Antrim. I am setting out how we have already set the scene for clean hydrogen production. We are not looking for the Executive to reinvent the wheel. The infrastructure between business and local government already exists in Ballymena. I am trying to encourage the Minister, the Executive and MLAs to buy into the idea, because we have been working on it for a number of years. I championed the issue passionately when I was a member of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Now that I have come to the Assembly, I will continue to champion it at every opportunity. I will return to what I was saying on the motion before Sinéad took me off on a tangent. For our economy to take the next step towards having a green energy economy, significant Executive investment is required. After engaging with industry on hydrogen, it has asked me to convey a simple message to the Executive, which is that there is still a lot of interest in creating opportunities for clean hydrogen production. There is, however, no meaningful support from central government to help establish what is effectively a brand-new sector. There is therefore a critical need for a hydrogen strategy to help define the role that hydrogen will play in Northern Ireland. DFE should prioritise such a strategy. I encourage the Minister and her energy team to work closely with the sector to ensure that it can act as a real catalyst for investment. I trust that the Minister is listening not only to what I have said about Ballymena but, more importantly, to what the industry has said and the message that it has asked me to convey. Northern Ireland has huge hydrogen potential. We already have an established link between business and local government in Ballymena. I trust that we can use that link to roll out clean hydrogen production to the rest of Northern Ireland in the future.

813 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:07 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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