Consumer goods giant Kimberly-Clark has teamed up with HYRO and Carlton Power to invest a combined £125 million (€144.3 million) in green hydrogen sources in the UK.
Kimberly-Clark, HYRO, and Carlton Power will support emerging energy solutions at its two plants in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and Northfleet, Kent.
With this initiative, the Kleenex and Huggies maker expects to see a 50% reduction in the consumption of natural gas across its UK production lines from 2027 compared with 2024.
The two long-term offtaker hydrogen supply agreements signed with Carlton Power and HYRO will see the installation of a green hydrogen facility next to Kimberly-Clark’s Barrow plant. A separate facility will be built on Kimberly-Clark’s Northfleet plant, the company noted.
Together, the two sites produce nearly one billion Andrex toilet rolls and more than 150 million boxes of Kleenex tissues annually.
Dan Howell, vice president and managing director of Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland, said, “Now is the right time for us to tap into hydrogen’s significant potential, improving energy supply and our decarbonisation needs. We are delighted to be the first UK consumer goods manufacturer to really embrace green hydrogen, showing that an energy-intensive industry can take the lead and overcome the technical challenge and adopt green hydrogen at scale.
“This initiative builds on the investments and progress we’ve already made with innovative technologies for our business, our consumers, and our customers.”
Green Hydrogen Projects
The two projects have received funding support from the UK government after being selected for the Government’s Hydrogen Production Business Model (HPBM) and Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) – a global first (also known as Hydrogen Allocation Round One – HAR1).
Carlton Power’s Barrow Green Hydrogen project secured local planning consent in June 2023, Kimberly-Clark noted.
HYRO’s project at the Northfleet paper mill received planning permission after the local council granted consent for the scheme in August 2024.
UK minister for industry, Sarah Jones, said, “This government is rolling out hydrogen at scale for the first time, with ten of the first projects now shovel-ready to start powering businesses with clean, homegrown energy from Teesside to Devon.
“Hydrogen will help us cut industrial emissions and support Britain’s industrial renewal by creating thousands of jobs in our industrial heartlands as part of the Plan for Change.”
The Barrow hydrogen project will supply 100GWh of hydrogen per annum, while the Northfleet project will supply 47GWh per annum.
Collectively, the projects will reduce carbon emissions by 28,500 tonnes per annum, or the equivalent of removing approximately 20,000 petrol cars off the road every year.
The projects will also contribute to decarbonising the production of toilet and facial tissues by directly replacing fossil-fuel natural gas used for steam generation.
Green hydrogen – created through the electrolysis of water using electricity from renewable sources, like wind and solar – allows a versatile energy source to be generated and stored without emitting polluting gases during combustion or production, the company added.
