GeoPura Signs £80m Green Hydrogen Deal With Lower Thames Crossing, British Infrastructure Sets a New Standard for Carbon-Neutral Construction

Tower Bridge at sunset, a masterpiece of Victorian engineering that continues to stand as one of the UK's most iconic and enduring infrastructure landmarks on the River Thames, London.

National Highways has appointed British hydrogen firm GeoPura to supply green hydrogen to the Lower Thames Crossing, marking the largest volume of green hydrogen ever contracted for a British construction project. The £80 million deal will see GeoPura deliver 2,500 tonnes of hydrogen to the project site, replacing over 12 million litres of diesel and saving an estimated 30,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions during the main construction phase. The announcement, made in February 2026, marks a significant shift in how large-scale UK infrastructure projects approach their carbon reduction commitments.

Project Overview

The Lower Thames Crossing is one of the most significant road infrastructure projects in a generation, connecting Kent, Thurrock and Essex via a new tunnel beneath the River Thames east of the existing Dartford Crossing.

• Project: Lower Thames Crossing, new twin-bore road tunnel beneath the River Thames

• Location: Between Gravesham, Kent and Thurrock, Essex

• Client: National Highways

• Hydrogen supplier: GeoPura (UK-based)

• Hydrogen contract value: £80 million

• Hydrogen volume: 2,500 tonnes

• Diesel displaced: Over 12 million litres

• CO2 savings: Estimated 30,000 tonnes

• Supply model: Fully managed service including delivery, on-site storage and distribution

• Government autumn budget contribution to LTC: £891 million confirmed November 2025

• Carbon ambition: First major carbon-neutral infrastructure project in Britain

Delivery Partners and Key Stakeholders

The hydrogen contract brings together a specialist clean energy supplier, a national highways authority and government industrial strategy backing.

• National Highways: Client and project promoter, responsible for England's strategic road network and the carbon-neutral construction mandate for LTC

• GeoPura: UK-based green hydrogen producer and managed energy services provider, founded 2019, employing over 170 people across Britain and Europe

• HyMarnham Power Facility, Nottinghamshire: GeoPura's flagship hydrogen production site, located on the former Cottam Power Station site, supported by government Hydrogen Allocation Round 1 (HAR1) funding

• Matt Palmer, Executive Director, Lower Thames Crossing: Described the announcement as giving "the green light to green hydrogen"

• Andrew Cunningham, CEO, GeoPura: Highlighted the contract as strengthening the British hydrogen supply chain and driving price efficiency

• Chris McDonald, Minister for Industry: Endorsed the partnership as proof that "clean energy goes hand-in-hand with major British infrastructure projects"

• Lower Thames Crossing Delivery Partners: Main construction contractors and their supply chains, who will be required by National Highways to invest in hydrogen-powered machinery and develop operational skills accordingly

Construction and Technical Details

The hydrogen will be supplied to the Lower Thames Crossing as a fully managed service, with GeoPura responsible not just for production but for the entire logistics chain from manufacture to on-site dispensing.

Key technical details include:

• Green hydrogen produced via electrolysis powered by locally sourced renewable electricity

• Supply, delivery, on-site storage and dispensing infrastructure all provided by GeoPura as a turnkey managed service

• Six hydrogen-powered generators are already operational on an Essex preparatory works site, charging batteries for zero-emission electric machinery — confirming the technology is already proven on this specific project

• Hydrogen to be used across construction plant including excavators, dump trucks, generators and heavy equipment operated by delivery partners and their supply chains

• National Highways will mandate that its delivery partners invest in hydrogen-compatible machinery, creating a supply chain-wide technology transition

• Production capacity underpinned by HAR1 government funding, positioning GeoPura's output within the UK's wider industrial hydrogen strategy

The scheme is explicitly designated by National Highways as a pathfinder project for carbon-neutral construction — meaning the lessons, data and commercial frameworks developed here are intended to be replicated across future major infrastructure programmes.

Timeline

• 2023: National Highways issues initial tender for low-carbon hydrogen supply, identifying LTC as a pathfinder project

• June 2025: Successful hydrogen-powered generator trial completed on site in Essex, validating the technology ahead of the main contract award

• November 2025: Chancellor confirms £891 million government investment in LTC as part of the Autumn Budget

• February 2026: GeoPura formally announced as hydrogen supplier; £80 million managed service contract confirmed

• 2027/2028 onwards: Main hydrogen supply phase commences during peak construction activity

• Contract duration: Eight years with the option to extend by two years, structured to accommodate any programme adjustments

Strategic Importance

The Lower Thames Crossing hydrogen deal is not a peripheral green initiative bolted onto a conventional project. It sits at the heart of National Highways' entire carbon strategy for the scheme and has been planned alongside the core construction procurement from the outset. By appointing GeoPura on a mandatory managed service basis and requiring delivery partners to convert their plant fleet to hydrogen-compatible machinery, National Highways is using the commercial weight of a major infrastructure contract to accelerate decarbonisation across the wider construction supply chain.

This is also a significant moment for the British hydrogen industry. GeoPura's HyMarnham Power facility in Nottinghamshire, built on the site of a former coal-fired power station, is being positioned as a cornerstone of the UK's emerging domestic hydrogen supply chain. The fact that construction of the Thames Estuary's next major crossing will be powered by hydrogen produced in the East Midlands is precisely the kind of joined-up industrial strategy narrative the government has been attempting to establish through its hydrogen allocation rounds. It creates visible, tangible proof of demand that unlocks further private investment in production capacity.

For the construction industry more broadly, the mandatory supply chain conversion requirement is the most consequential part of this announcement. This is not a voluntary pilot. Contractors bidding for LTC delivery partner packages will need to demonstrate hydrogen plant capability. That requirement, applied at scale across a multi-billion pound programme, will do more to normalise hydrogen adoption than any number of voluntary pledges.

Writer's Opinion

Here is what the construction industry needs to understand about this deal: the £80 million figure is not the story. The story is the mandate.

National Highways is not offering delivery partners the option of using hydrogen. It requires them to invest in hydrogen-powered machinery and develop the skills to operate it. That is a contractual condition of participation in one of the UK's most significant road infrastructure programmes. When a client with National Highways' procurement power makes that kind of demand, the market moves. Plant hire companies, equipment manufacturers and contractors who have been waiting to see whether hydrogen was a genuine commercial direction now have their answer.

The deeper significance here is about industrial policy and energy security. GeoPura's HyMarnham facility is not just a production site. It is a statement of intent — green hydrogen, produced domestically from renewable electricity, displacing diesel that would otherwise be imported. For a government that has spent three years talking about energy security and industrial strategy, this is one of the most coherent examples of policy meeting practice.

There is, however, a legitimate question about pace. Six hydrogen generators are already running on a preparatory works site in Essex. The main hydrogen supply will not commence until 2027 or 2028 at the earliest. The gap between the announcement and the volume delivery reveals the honest reality of infrastructure timescales: the ambition is real, but the transformation of construction plant fleets does not happen overnight. The industry should celebrate this milestone without pretending the transition is already complete. The hard work, the fleet conversion, the skills development, the supply chain investment is still ahead.