Agratas is currently building the first phase of the gigafactory at the Gravity enterprise zone near Bridgwater, with operations scheduled to begin in late 2027.

The funding forms part of the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, under which the Department for Business and Trade is allocating £700mn to strengthen Britain’s advanced manufacturing sector. Agratas is the single largest beneficiary of the funding.

The facility is expected to create around 4,200 direct jobs and 300 apprenticeships, while generating an estimated £43bn in economic value over 25 years once fully operational. A corporate cousin of the facility under Tata is Jaguar Land Rover, which will become a key customer.

Major hydrogen investment to create 400 jobs in South Yorkshire
Meanwhile, a separate investment in a manufacturing site in South Yorkshire will support the expansion of electrolyser production.

Green hydrogen technology company ITM Power has secured £40mn from Great British Energy, alongside a £46.5mn government grant in principle, to significantly scale up its operations. The deal represents Great British Energy’s largest investment in domestic clean power to date.

The funding will support a 1 GW expansion of ITM’s Sheffield facility and is expected to support over 400 skilled jobs across manufacturing, construction and the wider supply chain.

The investment will accelerate production of ITM’s 2.5 MW capacity proton exchange membrane electrolyser Chronos.

The combined support builds on wider government backing for the hydrogen sector, including a £500mn commitment at the Spending Review for hydrogen infrastructure.

It also follows the signing of contracts for 10 of the first wave of UK green hydrogen projects, which are now set to become operational.