Taking place at the Historic Dockyard Chatham’s Old Dockyard Church, the Summit was led by the region’s leading higher education institutions: the University of Kent; Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Greenwich, to provide an opportunity to hear the latest updates in both hydrogen research and clean energy development.

With an opening address by Councillor Howard Doe, Deputy Leader of Medway Council, the Summit was also an opportunity for the leading figures and organisations at the forefront of clean energy research to discuss and network for future collaboration.

Sector insights were presented by speakers from Arup, Thames Clipper, Ryze Hydrogen, Thames Estuary Growth Board, Hypoint and SGN, each taking the stage to update on their own areas of research and development.

Councillor Howard Doe, Deputy Leader of Medway Council, who is leading on Medway’s Climate Change agenda, said: “I was pleased to open the Kent and Medway Hydrogen Summit in Chatham. We all need to work together in the fight against climate change and the Summit brought organisations from a number of sectors together to discuss the latest developments in clean energy technologies. We are working hard to achieve net zero carbon across Medway by 2050 and we will continue working with partner agencies, the local community and the universities in order to do this.”

Professor Mohamed Abdel-Maguid, Pro Vice-Chancellor (STEM) and Dean of Science, Engineering and Social Sciences at Canterbury Christ Church University, said: “I was honoured and delighted to address the Kent and Medway Hydrogen Summit. It was well attended by various stakeholders ranging from the leading regional Universities, local authorities and policy makers to industry practitioners and experts. It is evident that Kent and Medway have a wealth of industry projects in blue and green hydrogen and the increasing volume of complementary research and skills development activities among the three regional universities is a very impressive start. The next steps will see the three regional universities working collaboratively with regional stakeholders to develop a road map that aims to accelerate the growth of Kent and Medway’s hydrogen economy.”

Councillor Dan Watkins, Deputy Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport at Kent County Council, added: “The Summit was a great collaboration between industry, academia and local government, highlighting real-world hydrogen projects that are underway in Kent and have the potential to decarbonise transport and heating. Kent County Council is pleased to be playing its role to support these initiatives and ensure the UK maintains its leading role in tackling climate change, while creating the green jobs of the future.”