Lower Thames Crossing £80m hydrogen deal: logistics and plant lessons for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Lower Thames Crossing has signed an £80m contract with GeoPura to supply 2,500 tonnes of green hydrogen, intended to displace more than 12 million litres of diesel during construction of the £11bn scheme. GeoPura will handle on-site storage and dispensing, with six hydrogen-powered generators already charging batteries for electric plant in Essex and a JCB hydrogen-fuelled backhoe loader trialled on survey works in Kent. The deal, sourced from electrolysis at sites including the HyMarnham Power facility on a former coal station, signals large-scale hydrogen logistics now being tested on a live UK megaproject.
Technical Brief
- Contract notice for hydrogen supply was issued in 2024 with an advertised value of £80m.
- Construction still expects to consume around 40 million litres of diesel alongside alternative fuels.
- Diesel cost assumption is £1.50/litre, giving an £18m notional diesel cost for the displaced volume.
- GeoPura’s HyMarnham Power facility is on a former coal-fired power station site in Nottinghamshire.
- HyMarnham Power and other GeoPura sites use electrolysis powered by locally sourced renewable electricity.
- Six GeoPura hydrogen generators are already deployed in Essex to charge batteries for electric plant.
- A JCB hydrogen-fuelled backhoe loader was used for survey works in Kent, its first non-test deployment.
- Department for Transport is seeking private finance to take over the project, potentially affecting future fuel strategy.
Our Take
Within our 737 Infrastructure stories, hydrogen rarely appears at this construction scale, so the Lower Thames Crossing in the UK is emerging as a benchmark case for heavy civil works fuel-switching away from diesel.
Using more than 12 million litres of diesel equivalent in hydrogen on an £11bn project gives GeoPura a high-profile reference that can be leveraged into similar contracts on other National Highways schemes in Essex, Kent and wider UK regions.
The related coverage noting 2,500t of green hydrogen supply suggests the HyMarnham Power facility in Nottinghamshire will be tested as a multi-year, high-throughput hub, which could de-risk future hydrogen logistics for large infrastructure projects.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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