A delegation from the Department of International Trade in the UK and India have visited Keele to learn more about the University's pioneering work in sustainability, and the potential for investment in the Midlands region.

The group, comprising representatives from government, business, and industry, heard first-hand from Keele academics, partners, and local businesses about the region's work in green technology and sustainability, with the aim of identifying opportunities for international collaboration.

A number of the delegates also took the opportunity to tour key sustainability sites at Keele, such as the University’s Low Carbon Energy Generation Park, to learn more about initiatives like the HyDeploy trial run by Cadent at Keele in 2020/21, and the University’s Smart Energy Network Demonstrator (SEND) project.

Julian Read, SEND Programme Delivery Manager at Keele University said: “This high profile visit by a delegation of Indian companies is a testament to the achievements made by Keele University and our partners in sustainability projects and research, and highlights the international appeal of our work and the potential that initiatives like hydrogen blending hold. We hope that this will launch further international collaborations.”

Ian Harrison, Head of Exports in the Midlands for the Department for International Trade said: “India - UK relations have never been better as we go into this year celebrating 75 years of Indian independence, make rapid strides on completing Indian Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations by Diwali, hosting the Commonwealth Games this month, the potential for UK-India collaboration and trade is enormous.

“With this in mind, we were thrilled to host this very senior Indian delegation where the delegates had the opportunity to see projects in the Hydrogen extraction, production, storage, transportation, and a wide range of applications in the Midlands. The delegation also met with a group of local businesses in a pitching session where on average, each company received five new enquiries. We look forward to working with these businesses to capitalise on the potential export opportunities and build lasting relationships going forward.”

James Whitmore, Innovation Programme Manager, Cadent added: “This visit was a great opportunity to share the UK’s developments on hydrogen blending through the research of our HyDeploy programme, a journey which began at our project partner’s site - Keele University. HyDeploy is proving the safety case for blending up to 20% hydrogen into the existing gas grid which can reduce CO2 emissions without major disruption for the consumer. It was a privilege to be able to share our findings with this high profile delegation from India and also members of the UK Department of International Trade.

“As the UK’s largest Gas Distribution Network, Cadent is involved in a range of projects testing and researching the use of low carbon hydrogen as an alternative to fossil gas to support the fight against climate change and it’s fantastic that HyDeploy and the projects at Keele University are attracting global attention.”