Top Hydrogen Companies in the UK for Clean Energy

The UK's clean energy sector is worth over £70 billion and employs around 250,000 people. Within that, hydrogen is one of the fastest-growing segments new company registrations in hydrogen are growing faster year-on-year than almost any other clean energy category.

That growth isn't coming from nowhere. It's being driven by real policy commitment, real capital deployment, and real hydrogen technology reaching commercial viability across multiple applications. The companies shaping this sector deserve to be understood properly not as stock tips, but as organisations doing specific, buildable things that the UK's net zero transition genuinely needs.

Here are the ones worth paying attention to.

ITM Power

If there's a flagship name in UK hydrogen technology, ITM Power is it. They manufacture proton exchange membrane electrolysers the machines that use renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Revenue has grown from £5.3 million in 2023 to £26 million, with analysts forecasting around £48 million by April 2026. They're not profitable yet, but the manufacturing scale they're building is what drives electrolyser costs down for the whole industry.

Hydrogen Transition Energy (HTE)

HTE's focus is waste-to-hydrogen converting non-recyclable waste into fuel cell grade hydrogen using plasma-assisted gasification above 3,000°C. Plastics, tyres, automotive shredder residue, medical waste, municipal solid waste materials with no recycling route become a hydrogen feedstock instead of a landfill liability.

Our Manston facility in Kent is the UK's first industrial-scale waste-to-hydrogen project, currently moving through the planning process. It's the proof point for a network of sites planned across the UK Cwmbran, the Midlands, Belfast, and Perth each applying the same model to local waste streams and local industrial hydrogen demand.

What makes the waste-to-hydrogen approach distinct is that it doesn't need a new resource. The feedstock is already being generated. The waste already exists. Hydrogen technology just gives it somewhere better to go.

Clean Power Hydrogen (CPH2)

CPH2 has developed something genuinely distinctive a Membrane-Free Electrolyser that produces pure hydrogen and oxygen without the membrane components that typically degrade over time and add cost. When powered by renewable energy, it produces green hydrogen suitable for electricity storage, industrial use, and vehicle fuelling. The CEO has expressed confidence that 2026 will see conversion of a growing pipeline into contractual orders without reliance on government subsidies. One analyst covering the company rates it a strong buy.

Protium

Protium is quietly doing some of the most practical work in the sector. They deliver green hydrogen solutions to energy-intensive industries steel, glass, food and drink alongside construction sites, events, and temporary infrastructure. In 2026 they opened Scotland's next green hydrogen facility and secured Highland Council approval for a zero-emission green hydrogen project, and they've just powered Panasonic Manufacturing UK's operations with a bespoke hydrogen energy system. They've been recognised among the UK's top green hydrogen innovators. Less visible than ITM, but more operationally active than most.

AFC Energy

Founded in 2006, listed since 2007, AFC Energy develops alkaline fuel cell systems that generate clean electricity from hydrogen. They sit in the £100–150 million market cap bracket and have built strategic partnerships including with ABB a leading electrification and digitalisation technology company. Their systems target stationary power applications, a market that globally represented nearly 70% of fuel cell revenue in 2025. A slow commercial burn, but with real technology and real partnerships behind it.

BP H2Teesside and HyGreen Teesside

BP doesn't need an introduction, but their hydrogen work in the UK does. They're developing H2Teesside one of the UK's largest blue hydrogen production facilities alongside HyGreen Teesside, a large-scale green hydrogen project. Their work with Associated British Ports targets decarbonisation of hard-to-abate transport and industrial sectors, with projected elimination of up to 580,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. That's the equivalent of taking 20,000 diesel HGVs off UK roads.

The Stanlow hydrogen project a joint venture between Essar Oil UK and Progressive Energy is another project worth watching, with an estimated cost of around €3 billion.

What Ties These Companies Together

Different technologies. Different stages. Different market positions. But there's a thread running through all of them: specificity. None of these companies are simply "doing hydrogen." They're doing a particular thing a particular technology, a particular market, a particular feedstock and doing it with operational seriousness.

That's what the clean energy transition needs. Not ambition in general, but ambition applied to specific, deliverable, commercially viable projects. The UK hydrogen sector in 2026 has more of that than it's ever had before.

Conclusion

The UK hydrogen sector is not one story it's a collection of companies, each working on a different piece of the clean energy puzzle. From electrolyser manufacturing to fuel cells to waste-to-hydrogen, the hydrogen technology being developed and deployed in the UK right now is serious, specific, and increasingly commercial. At Hydrogen Transition Energy, we're proud to be part of that. The companies on this list aren't waiting for the hydrogen economy to arrive. They're building it.

FAQ

What hydrogen technology is most advanced in the UK right now? 

PEM electrolysis used by companies like ITM Power is the most commercially mature green hydrogen technology in the UK. Waste-to-hydrogen via plasma gasification, being developed by Hydrogen Transition Energy, is the most advanced approach to low-carbon hydrogen from residual waste feedstock. Both are moving from development into commercial operation.

How does waste-to-hydrogen differ from other hydrogen production methods? 

Most hydrogen production starts with a purpose-sourced input water for electrolysis, or natural gas for steam methane reforming. Waste-to-hydrogen uses non-recyclable waste as its feedstock, meaning the input material already exists and already needs disposing of. That changes the economics and the environmental case significantly you're extracting value from something that was previously a cost burden.

Is UK hydrogen technology competitive globally? 

In several areas, yes. UK electrolyser manufacturers like ITM Power are competing on international projects. Waste-to-hydrogen developers like HTE are pioneering approaches that don't yet exist at commercial scale elsewhere in the country. The UK hydrogen sector is early-stage compared to some regions but technically credible and commercially active.