Baker McKenzie has advised Kimberly-Clark UK & Ireland, manufacturer of leading household name brands including Andrex and Kleenex on its agreements to invest into UK green H₂.

Together with its energy partners, Carlton Power and HYRO (a joint venture between Octopus Energy Generation and RES), Kimberly-Clark is investing over £125 MM into the emerging energy solution at its two plants in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria and Northfleet, Kent. Combined, the two sites produce nearly one billion Andrex toilet rolls and over 150 million boxes of Kleenex tissues every year.

The two long-term off-taker H₂ supply agreements, signed by Kimberly-Clark with energy partners Carlton Power and HYRO, will mean a green H₂ facility is installed next to Kimberly-Clark’s Barrow plant, while a separate facility will be developed on-site at Kimberly-Clark’s Northfleet plant.

The Barrow H₂ project will supply 100 GWh of H₂ per annum while the Northfleet project will supply 47GWh per annum. Collectively the displacement of natural gas with H₂ will reduce carbon emissions by 28,500 tpy, equivalent to removing approximately 20,000 petrol cars off the road every year and will reduce Kimberly-Clark’s natural gas consumption by 50% from 2027.

As confirmed by the UK Government, these two green H₂ projects are being supported with Government funding after being selected for the Government’s H₂ Production Business Model (HPBM) and Net Zero H₂ Fund (NZHF) – a global first (also known as H₂ Allocation Round One – HAR1).

The Baker McKenzie team, led by Andrew Hedges with support from Energy and Infrastructure Senior Associate, Andrew Paget advised Kimberly-Clark in connection with the negotiations of both H₂ supply agreements, whilst Baker McKenzie’s Real Estate and Construction team, led by Partner, Ben Farnell with support from Senior Associates Jack McCaw and Andrew Hope and Associate, Kate Austins negotiated the agreements for the development of the onsite H₂ production facility.

Commenting on the transactions, Andrew Hedges said, “We are proud to have supported Kimberly-Clark’s decarbonization journey in the UK. Kimberly-Clark has helped transition the electricity sector through long-term offtake agreements that underpin the construction of new build renewable electricity generation. It has now taken a huge step in helping drive the transition from reliance on fossil gas to low carbon solutions. This is the low carbon leadership in practice.”

Richard Blunt, the Global Chair of the Energy and Infrastructure Practice at Baker McKenzie added, “Our ability to guide this vanguard green energy transition deal to a successful conclusion is testament to the bench-strength of the Baker McKenzie energy team and our investment in global expertise. As the energy transition deepens, we will support our clients to remain market leaders.”