In Mid Wales, some of the toughest decarbonisation challenges sit not in homes or offices, but deep in the supply chains that keep the regional economy moving. One of the most significant is timber transport. It is a major employer, supporting around 14,000 jobs across forestry, haulage and processing, and it relies almost entirely on diesel-powered vehicles operating over long distances in demanding terrain.
Cutting emissions here is not straightforward, but the potential economic and environmental gains are considerable.
At Challoch Energy, our focus within the Whole System Research and Innovation for Decarbonisation (WSRID) programme is on whether green hydrogen could provide a viable route to decarbonising timber transport in Mid Wales. This work is funded by the Welsh Government and supported locally by Growing Mid Wales, creating the conditions to explore options that the industry itself has struggled to progress alone.
Electric vehicles are not a practical solution in forest environments. The vehicles involved are heavy, operate off-road, and need reliable refuelling in remote locations. Alternatives such as methanol have been considered by the timber transport sector but have not proved workable at scale. Hydrogen, while still unproven in this context, offers a potential fuel-based solution that could replace diesel without requiring a fundamental redesign of operations.
Our project looks at how green hydrogen could be produced locally and used directly within the timber supply chain. One option we are exploring is near Devil’s Bridge, where a wind farm is approaching the end of its current operational life. As wind farms are repowered, grid capacity often becomes a limiting factor, particularly in rural areas with weak networks. Rather than curtailing generation, surplus electricity could be used to produce hydrogen on site. That electricity would be “behind the meter”, creating the prospect of lower-cost hydrogen than would otherwise be available.
Mid Wales brings together several of the conditions needed to test this idea. It has a strong wind resource, access to non-potable water suitable for hydrogen production, and an industry where electrification is not a realistic alternative. Just as importantly, it has a concentration of forestry activity large enough to justify serious consideration of a new fuel pathway.
This remains an early-stage project. While we have completed initial feasibility work, much of this phase is about pulling together a complex set of stakeholders and understanding whether the concept can stand up in practice. The timber transport industry is not a single actor. It involves hauliers, harvesting contractors, sawmills, board mills and end users, none of whom can justify making the shift on their own. There is a classic chicken-and-egg problem: without hydrogen supply, no one will invest in hydrogen vehicles, and without committed users, no one will invest in producing hydrogen.
Breaking that deadlock is where programmes like WSRID matter. Welsh Government funding allows us to do the legwork that individual businesses cannot justify on their own. This phase is about engagement as much as engineering. We are working with wind farm owners, forestry bodies, transport operators and manufacturers to test appetite, identify barriers and build confidence that this is worth pursuing.
Alongside stakeholder engagement, there is detailed project development work to do. Questions around technology choice, integration with renewable generation, storage, distribution and temporary hydrogen supply all need to be addressed before any physical trials can take place. Later phases could see hydrogen-powered plant operating at sawmills and converted haulage vehicles running on forest routes, but getting there depends on what we learn now.
The milestones for this phase are therefore deliberately cautious. First, securing the involvement of a suitable wind farm and developing a workable design around that. Second, gaining meaningful commitment from timber transport partners that the concept makes sense for their operations and is worth further investment. Third, engaging with vehicle and equipment suppliers to understand what could realistically be trialled in a forestry context.
There are no guarantees. Hydrogen is not a silver bullet, and this work is about testing whether it has a genuine role to play in one of Mid Wales’ most important industries. But the alternatives are limited, and the need to decarbonise timber transport is not going away. If this approach proves viable, it could help protect jobs, reduce emissions and make better use of local renewable resources.
That is why this phase matters. It is not about delivering a finished solution, but about finding out whether one exists, and doing so in a way that brings industry, public bodies and government together. Without that kind of collaborative, publicly supported exploration, projects like this would either not happen at all, or would take many years longer to emerge.
Dr Simon Minett talks about this and more in Unlocking Mid Wales, the Growing Mid Wales podcast. Listen to the podcast. here.
