An international partnership put together by Freeport East has received a significant investment in a green hydrogen project to drive decarbonisation in the maritime sector.

The Hydrogen Zero Emission Maritime project will receive £1.44 million from Innovate UK and a similar sum from Australia's department of climate change, energy, the environment and water. The project will focus on developing hydrogen technology for high powered workboats and includes leading firms in the sector. It aims to reduce the risks of deployment of new technology and speed up the take-up of marine green hydrogen.

Freeport East will support its use in the region's ports, particularly on the tugs, workboats and offshore wind vessels in Harwich and Felixstowe. Steve Beel, chief executive of Freeport East, said: “This news highlights the rapid innovation-driven growth occurring within the Freeport and marks the third consortium funding success Freeport East has achieved in the past year.  Freeport East is demonstrating how we can be an enabler of green technology solutions and support UK businesses to succeed overseas.”