The Anonymous Widower

£125m Hydrogen Supply Deal To Replace Gas Usage

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

Tissue maker Kimberly-Clark has signed a £125m contract with two hydrogen facilities to reduce the amount natural gas used in its production line

These five paragraphs give more details.

The Andrex and Kleenex producer signed a long-term deal receive hydrogen from the upcoming Carlton Power facility in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and the HYRO plant in Northfleet, Kent, which are expected to be operational in 2027.

The facilities have already secured funding and planning permission and will be built near existing Kimberly-Clark plants.

The company said that, as a result of the deal, from 2027 it expected to see a 50% reduction to its 2024 consumption of natural gas across its UK production lines.

The new facilities will produce and store hydrogen for the exclusive use of Kimberly-Clark.

It would replace fossil-fuel natural gas used for steam generation in the manufacture of toilet and facial tissues, the company said.

I would expect that converting an industrial steam-generator from natural gas to hydrogen operation could be a reasonably straightforward task.

I have these thoughts.

Will Kimberly-Clark Advertise Their Future Products As Carbon-Free?

I suspect they could, if they looked at where everything they used came from.

Will Carbon-Free Tissue Products Sell Better?

This will be the acid test. And of course the sums must add up.

Will Kimberly-Clark Make Their Tissue Products Plastic Free?

There is an article in The Times today, which is entitled Work Starts To Remove ‘Wet Wipe Island’ From Thames, which says this.

The congealed mass of wet wipes has formed on the Surrey side of the river near Hammersmith Bridge and was described on Sunday night as an “embarrassment to the capital”.

Plastic-free products would go a long way to solve the problem of ‘Wet Wipe Island’

Surely, a double change to carbon- and plastic-free will be better than two single changes.

Will Kimberly-Clark Use Hydrogen-Powered Trucks To Deliver Finished Products?

Availability of hydrogen is often cited for not using hydrogen-powered trucks.

But that won’t apply at Barrow-in-Furness or Northfleet.

August 11, 2025 - Posted by AnonW | Business, Energy, Hydrogen, Transport/Travel, World | Barrow-in-Furness, Carlton Power, Decarbonisation, Hydrogen-Powered Trucks, Kimberly-Clark, Northfleet, Plastic, River Thames, Steam, Wet Wipes, Zero-Carbon Steam