Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland has announced it will sign hydrogen offtaker agreements with Carlton Power and HYRO (a joint venture between Octopus Energy Generation and RES). The agreements will mean hydrogen production facilities based on electrolysis are installed next to Kimberly-Clark’s plants in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and Northfleet, Kent. The Barrow hydrogen project will supply 100GWh of hydrogen per annum while the Northfleet project will supply 47GWh per annum. The company said is investing over £125 million into the project.
Combined, the two sites produce nearly one billion Andrex toilet rolls and over 150 million boxes of Kleenex tissues every year. Kimberly-Clark said it expects to see a 50% reduction from its 2024 consumption of natural gas across its UK production lines from 2027.
The two green hydrogen projects are being supported with funding 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. HYRO’s project at the Northfleet paper mill received planning permission after the local council granted consent for the scheme in August 2024.

Dan Howell, Vice President and Managing Director at 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.”